First I'd like to say thank you for the ideas for the name of Crue's Semblance. Gravitational Shift and Orientation both work remarkably well for it. They were suggested by StorageShock and JammyMikens respectively.
Also I didn't even mention it but we hit FORTY chapters last one, and now I am happy to give you forty-one!
"Dibs on the chair!" Crue said, quickly walking forward to the massive chair behind Ozpin's desk. He, General Ironwood and Winter had shared what might have been the tensest elevator ride in known history.
So, he was eager to get out. "The visiting Headmaster should have the seat." Winter said, looking annoyed at Crue. To be fair, she had been looking annoyed at him since the incident in the courtyard, so there was no real difference. Though with her hair still down, she lost some of her intimidation factor.
"Yeah, but this is an 'interrogation'." Crue replied, giving some air quotes as he sat in Ozpin's seat and spun round. "I'm sure General Coppertree would prefer standing up all tall and imposing like." He turned in Ozpin's seat to face Ironwood, who was in fact standing tall before the desk imposingly. There was an imperceptible twitch of his eye at Crue's misnomer.
"You seem to be under the impression that this will be a simple questioning." Ironwood leaned down. "It will not be." His hands gripped Ozpin's desk as he stared down at Crue.
The Faunus did feel some sense of concern but decided to play it off. "Yes, because using torture- I mean, 'advanced interrogation techniques' on a student is definitely something Ozpin will be a fan of."
"That is not what I meant." Ironwood grimaced, apparently the idea of torturing a student not one he had in mind nor was very fond of. "You, Crue Cullen, do not exist."
Crue froze. His heartbeat slowed as he swallowed a lump in his throat. He made a show of slowly pinching himself while his mind was running on overdrive. "I don't exist? There's no other evidence of me in the world. Did the Author fuck up? Am I really just not meant to be here?"
"Might have to disagree with you there." Crue said, pinching himself while not sharing any of his thoughts with the General.
Ironwood frowned. "There is no evidence of your existence. The only information about you is that you are a Beacon student, who didn't join at the right time, and you aided stopping a White Fang operation not too long ago."
"Well, I get the feeling census data ain't really the best here." Crue joked. Neither Atlesian laughed. "But, that might have something to do with the fact I woke up in the Emerald Forest with, no memories, no Aura, nothing." Crue explained. Ironwood and Winter's eyes widened. "Oh. I'm guessing Ozpin didn't tell you guys that."
"No, he must have forgotten." Ironwood said through gritted teeth.
"Well, I mean, like, it's not like you should have reason to go in depth into the lives of his students." Crue said. "We are people, you know."
"I am aware." Ironwood said with a grunt. "However, no students know things that are a threat to Atlas Security."
"Oi, this again." Crue sighed, spinning round in Ozpin's chair as he slumped in it. "Atlas Security this, Atlas Security that, all I've seen so far is Atlas insecurity." He spun the chair back round to face Ironwood with a glare.
"Damn, should've used that one when you tried to arrest me." He spared a glance to Winter, who stood a little bit straighter as a frown formed on her face.
"You should have just come along without incident." Winter said, stepping forward with a glare. "Then this would be a non-issue."
"And you shouldn't've tried to hit your fucking sister!" Crue got to his feet and glared at Winter, who leaned back in shock.
"Schnee?" Ironwood questioned; his voice surprisingly low. Winter stood to attention, before glancing away from her commander.
"There was not going to be any force behind it, sir. I simply planned to reprimand her for not taking proper care of herself." Winter explained. To her surprise, Ironwood and Crue mimicked each other's movements as they both crossed their arms across their chests and looked at her with disapproval.
It uncomfortably reminded Winter of when her father would look at her with similar disappointment. An image she quickly dismissed from her head.
"Yeah, and you wonder why I didn't want to go along with someone like that." Crue turned to Ironwood. "Are we nearly done here? I think if I spend another minute with her I'm gonna be the one smacking a Schnee sister."
Ironwood frowned at the threat to his subordinate. "You still have not disclosed how you know Penny's true nature. And how you are her…" Ironwood looked like he swallowed something particularly disgusting and sour.
"There's a hyphen." Crue said, stopping Ironwood from finishing his words. "I cannot stress that enough, that there is a hyphen."
"I'm not actually her boyfriend, I am a boy, friend." To say Ironwood looked relieved was an understatement. He looked as though the weight of his own ship was lifted from his shoulders.
"As for the how…" He thought for a moment. "Look, I love Penny… PLATONICALLY! PLATONICALLY!" Crue suddenly clarified, backing up into the chair as Ironwood's hand fell to his hip. "Platonically! I love her, but I'm also, you know, not an idiot."
Ironwood looked as though he wanted to contradict that last statement but stopped himself. "And you are the only one who knows this?"
"Yes." Crue lied. He didn't need to put Ruby through something like this or get Penny in more trouble. Though he made a mental note to explain why he had been arrested to Ruby. "Speaking of though, for love of fuck, put a god damn restriction on her fights." He suddenly said, staring at Ironwood.
"What? You want us to give her a disadvantage? That's not possible." Winter said, stepping forward. "Are you so focused on letting Beacon win the tournament you'd prevent her from fighting to the best of her ability?" Her imposing demeanour was lost when she had to blow a loose strand of white hair out of her face.
"I wasn't talking to you, Sibling Striker." Crue said, watching Winter tense up as he turned his attention back to Ironwood. "I said a restriction. Block. Limit. Whatever you want to call it just don't let her fight another certain competitor."
Winter looked as if she was going to disagree again, but Ironwood held up a hand to stop her. "Who?" He said simply.
"Pyrrha Nikos." Crue answered. Ironwood's head turned to stare at him oddly, as he was trying to figure out why Pyrrha in particular. "Her Semblance is Polarity."
Ironwood sucked in a breath through his teeth. "I understand. I'll put a restriction on randomiser to prevent those two from interacting."
"Grand. Also, here." He reached into one of his pockets and took out a small piece of cardboard with several small metal lines across it. He tossed it to Winter, who caught it one handed. She looked at the item with surprise.
"Why do you carry hairclips with you?" She asked, remembering the ease of how he managed to pick the handcuffs.
"In case Weiss or anyone else needs them." He shrugged, before seeing Winter's glare. "She's my friend! So I help her with different things. Some of things include carrying hair clips. Or stopping people she loves and respects from hitting her."
Winter's fist clenched down on the small piece of cardboard, as Crue stood, placing his hands on his knees. "Now, if that's all, there's something I've been meaning to do since I got here." Crue reached into the inner pocket of his waistcoat and pulled a handful of items.
"Tea bags?" Ironwood questioned, as Crue stood up from Ozpin's desk and made his way over to the small coffee station in the room. The Faunus nodded, as he opened the tin labelled 'coffee', tossed its contents in the bin, and dropped the tea bags in.
He turned around to see Ironwood staring at him with wide eyes, and Winter looking at him with confusion. "Is this a prank? Atlas Academy would never stoop to such levels of impropriety."
"That, is not a prank." Ironwood answered, still staring at Crue. "More a declaration of war given the circumstances." The Faunus gave a smile full of fangs as he nodded to Ironwood.
"He started it." Was all he had to say, before making his way to the elevator. He froze halfway as it dinged. The elevator doors opened, revealing three people inside. Qrow looked up with a smile, seeing Crue and annoyed looking Winter behind him.
Behind him, Ozpin and Glynda looked relieved to see him in one piece. "Mr. Cullen." Glynda said with a small sigh. "I trust the General was, hospitable." She stared at Ironwood over the Faunus' shoulder.
"Yeah, he was lovely." Crue responded with a smirk, imagining the strained look on Ironwoods face. "Turns out General Tintimber is just as overprotective as anyone else when he thinks his Niece is dating someone."
Glynda blinked several times in succession, at his reasoning, and the casual way he got Ironwood's name wrong. She tilted her head slightly to look directly at Ironwood. Crue glanced back as well, hoping the General would at least play along. To his credit, Ironwood looked to the side, refusing to make eye contact with Glynda.
"You bastard."
Every head suddenly turned to see Ozpin, standing by the kitchenette, his hands gripping the table tightly it cracked.
"Time for me to go!" Crue suddenly yelped, dashing past Goodwitch and rapidly pressing the 'close' button. The last thing he saw as the doors closed was a teabag hurtling toward him. The fact he heard the impact on metal made him genuinely concerned at what would have happened if it hit him.
He rested against the back of the elevator and let out a sigh of relief. "Ok, one redhead saved, one to go."
Back in the office, once Ozpin's tea induced rage had subsided, he turned to stare at Winter and Ironwood. "What were you thinking?" The General had the decency to look like he regretted his actions.
"I had sent you several enquiries about Cullen before this." Ironwood reminded Ozpin. "If you had replied to at least-" "Do not blame Ozpin for your own mistakes."
Glynda cut across the General, staring at him dangerously. Possibly the only person in Beacon who could make him genuinely concerned for his wellbeing. "Mr. Cullen is a student of Beacon. Not Atlas. And you arrested him because you thought he was dating your niece!?"
"That's not-" "Winter." Ironwood stopped his subordinate, as he took a breath. Yes, Crue had given him and out so Penny's true nature could remain a secret. But, he still needed a proper explanation. "Crue Cullen had confidential knowledge about Atlas."
"Oh please." Glynda spoke up, crossing her arms and glaring at the General. "He doesn't even have common knowledge on Atlas. I've graded his tests. He's remarkable in most everything else, save geography."
"What knowledge, James?" Ozpin asked, spinning his cane on the ground. "Surely not something you would keep from your allies, no?"
He had put the General in a trap. But it was one Ironwood could escape from with an abbreviated version of the truth. "He knew about a certain robot that was built by Atlas." He explained, carefully staring at Winter as she looked at him in shock.
"Ah." Ozpin said, smiling as though he remembered a funny joke. "That would be because he fought it."
"He what?!" Ironwood exclaimed. His words caused Ozpin to lose his smile as a frown appeared on his face.
"You are of course referring to the Atlesian Paladin, are you not?" The Headmaster asked.
"Oh yeah, I remember that thing." Qrow spoke up. "He had to fight it on his mission I brought him on. Along with that other team."
"Another mission you were drunk for?" Winter asked scathingly. The Huntsman in question smirked as he raised his flask, his middle finger sitting a bit higher than the rest.
Ozpin sighed as he sat down in his chair. "Qrow, why are you here? You managed to return Doctor Grey, who has been keeping our injured friend alive." He chose his words carefully, glancing to Winter.
"You've been out of contact since then. You can't just go dark like that out in the field." Ironwood stated.
"I'm not one of your special operatives Jimmy." The Huntsman retorted. "The kind that likes to arrest kids, especially." Whatever Winter was about to say in defence of her superior died in her throat as she grit her teeth and glared at Qrow.
"I went to go visit my sister, and turns out, Ravens and Wolves do interact." He spared a glance to the person who didn't belong. "But not in Winter. Who invited you, anyway?" He asked the Specialist.
Winter glared at the drunk, before Ironwood spoke up. "Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back on my ship."
"But sir…!" Winter looked surprised at her superior.
"Winter. Leave." The General stated. Winter took a moment, before nodding with a salute. She turned and walked, stopping a moment to glare at Qrow.
"Try not to arrest any more students on your way down." He said with a wink. Winter took a deep breath through her nose, but didn't raise to the bait as she entered the elevator and left.
"Go on." Ironwood gestured for Qrow to continue.
"Found out a few things." He began, glancing to each of them in turn. "First, was that your little infiltrator that the Wolf fought isn't just another pawn. They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition."
"What?!" Goodwitch spoke up.
"Yeah, and when I went to go see my dear sister to ask why she felt the need to attack your students, she was… cagey." Qrow trailed off.
"That doesn't sound unusual." Ozpin commented.
"Cagier than usual, obviously." Qrow retorted with a frown. "Figured she was just itching to see what I was doing there. And then, I mentioned The Wolf."
"She didn't know who the Hell I was talking about at first, until I described him. Green cloak and helmet. Used claws. And then, she knew exactly who I was talking about." He took a moment to look at the group around him.
"He knows about Salem." The three glanced to one another, before Ironwood spoke up.
"We know. I fought him myself not too long ago, and he was fighting another of her agents." He explained. He turned to Ozpin. "He also seems to be a fan of chess analogies. Though, not very good at them."
"You knew?!" Qrow exclaimed. "Well, thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!"
"You went to see your sister." Ironwood countered.
"Yeah, and if she were your sister, you'd agree with me." He growled, before letting out a scoff. "The Wolf also knows who you intend to choose. And isn't very happy about it."
Ozpin's eyes widened faintly behind his glasses, as the General turned to look at him. "You've made your decision already?" He asked, a frown on his features.
"Nothing is set in stone." Ozpin replied calmly. "But, I am leaning more towards one student in particular. You're certain he knows?" He looked to Qrow.
"Yeah, considering the fact he dropped her name, and said he was going to kill you for it." Qrow let his words hang in the air, as those around him reacted.
"He threatened the Ozpin?" Ironwood said, outraged. "Why would he do that if he is fighting against Salem?"
"Your sister must think very highly of him, then." Glynda's face was upturned in a sneer.
The threatened man in question, remained quiet. His hands linked before him as he took in the information, concentrating on a spot on his table as he tried to piece together who The Wolf might be. The Maidens were not common knowledge, and The Wolf was most definitely a man. So what interest would he hold.
"Tried to get more out of her, but then she asked me if The Wolf had said anything to me." Qrow continued. "When I said no, she clammed up. Refused to say anything else. Refused to take off her mask, too, weirdly." The Huntsman looked to the side, finding his sister's refusal to remove her headwear.
"The Wolf has something on her." Ozpin finally spoke, bringing all eyes to him. "It is the only reason she would refuse to say anymore. You said she acted wary at your arrival. Perhaps she thought The Wolf had spoken to us."
He frowned. "Or to me, seeing as he isn't very fond of my choices."
"We need to do something. We need to find out who's side he's on, now." Ironwood stated.
"Oh, with what? Your army?" Qrow asked angrily. "The one you brought to Vale, without even thinking of being discreet?!"
Ironwood met Qrow's eyes as he held against his gaze, before he spoke, placing his Scroll onto Ozpin's desk. "Discreet wasn't working."
…
The door to Team RWBY's dorm swung open. "Crue!" Ruby yelled out, diving towards the doorway. "Oof!" She hit the floor with a thud, the others in the room looking at the scene with confusion.
The Faunus' head popped out from behind the frame. "Hah, finally learned." He entered the room, picking up Ruby and setting her down. "So," He began, looking at the remainder of team RWBY. "What I miss?"
"Crue!" Blake suddenly snapped, the tone much different to Ruby's. "How can you be so blasé about what happened? You were assaulted and nearly arrested by the Atlas military!"
"Yeah, what happened Wolfy? We leave for two minutes, and you piss off an entire Kingdom." Yang spoke up, leaning against her bunkbed. "I'm almost proud." She wiped away an imaginary tear. Beside her, Blake looked unamused. In fact, she looked downright furious.
"Leave it to Atlas to cause an incident during what's meant to be a festival of peace and self-expression." Blake continued to grit her teeth. On the other side of the room, Weiss' head fell ashamedly.
"Oi, it was a misunderstanding." Crue said, making his way over to Weiss to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"A misunderstanding?!" Blake repeated, incredulously. "Crue! They tried to arrest, you." The raven-haired girl jabbed a finger towards him. "Not Ruby, not Weiss, not any other human, you." She huffed for breath as she stared at the boy, who had frozen in place.
"OH RIGHT I'M A FUCKING FAUNUS! THAT'S A WHOLE FUCKIN LAYER OF SHIT I DIDN'T EVEN CONSIDER!" Crue slowly turned to face Blake and spoke. "I'm still pissed off, Blake. And I'm never going to let them live this down, but if you don't think for a second Ozpin isn't up there ripping Ironwood a new one, you're sorely mistaken."
Blake's expression, didn't soften per say. But she looked at least a little happier. "What was this, 'misunderstanding' then?" She asked.
"Oh, Ironwood thought I was dating Penny." "WHAT!?" To the rooms surprise, it was Weiss who had shouted, jumping to her feet in anger.
"MY OWN SISTER TRIED TO ARREST YOU BECAUSE OF THAT!?" The normally pale girls face was beet red from anger. "I, I, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!" She stamped her way towards the door, her teeth gnashing together as Ruby quickly scurried out of her way with an 'eep'.
"Weiss don't!" Crue said, grabbing her wrist. The Heiress turned around, and Crue paused, seeing her eyes tinged red.
"How can I stay here?" She asked. "How can I stay here, when my own sister tried to arrest my friend, for as ridiculous a reason as that?!" She hiccuped as she stared at Crue, the Faunus seeing tears dot the edges of her eyes.
"Right." Crue's face set into one of determination. "Ruby." He turned to the leader, who tilted her head in questioning. "Code Snowmelt." The reaper let out a gasp and gained a wide smile. She gave a salute, and quickly disappeared in a burst of petals.
"What is Code Snow-?" Weiss began, before suddenly finding something soft and cuddly shoved into her face. "Ppft- Zwei!?" The Heiress tried to push the corgi away, but neither the dog nor the one holding him was having any of it.
Slowly, Weiss' complaints became muddled with giggles and small yips from Zwei. Before eventually, she conceded. "Alright! Alright! I give!" She tilted her head back to avoid the licks from the corgi, who barked at a job well done.
Ruby set Zwei down proudly and held a fist out to Crue. He bumped it with a smile. He and Ruby had come up with several plans to help the team in situations such as this, including each other. He took a moment before looking to Weiss, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. "Don't ruin your relationship with your sister because of a misunderstanding." He told her. "Spend time with her while you can, you never know when something might take it away."
The rest of the room fell quiet as their breathing stilled. They all knew what happened to Crue's sisters and realised how true his words were. "I, I understand." Weiss said. "Thank you Crue. But, I'm still sorry for what my sister did. I'll do my best to make up for it."
With her words said, she wrapped her arms around Crue in a hug. "Aww." The Faunus heard Yang and Ruby say simultaneously. Crue shook his head in amusement, before returning the hug.
"Good." The Faunus said. "But just so you know if your sister hits you again I will fight her. Handcuffs or not." "Please don't." The Heiress said with a soft groan.
"Huh." Blake said softly, causing Crue to look up and Weiss to peak out from under his arm. "Makes me almost wish I wasn't an only child." They followed her gaze, seeing Ruby and Yang sharing a hug.
"All the sister talk got me emotional, ok!" Yang defended, squeezing Ruby tighter and hoisting her up with a giggle.
"Aw, don't worry Blake. You're not an only child, you've got a brother." Ruby laughed. She looked to Crue with a smile, who suddenly turned a shade of pink.
"Ruby, I appreciate the sentiment but just because we're both Faunus doesn't mean we're related." The Cat Faunus gave a soft chuckle, showing she meant no ill will.
"That's not what I meant, Crue sees us all as sis-" "Hijfijik." "-ters." Crue interrupted too late, his face wearing a look of embarrassed resignation.
"That was meant to be a secret, Ruby." He said, his cheeks slowly becoming redder. The reaper gave a small 'oops' as Yang grew a huge smile while letting out a gasp.
"He's embarrassed! I don't think I've ever seen you blush like that, brother~!" The blonde laughed, not helping Crue's situation in the least. The Faunus inhaled deeply through his nose and was ready to put together a string of curses that would tie Yang in a knot, when he felt Weiss' arms tighten around him.
Crue glanced down, seeing Weiss bury her head into his chest. His anger faded, as he let out a breath, bringing his hand up and rubbing the Heiress' head. "You're lucky Weiss is holding me back." Crue said jokingly toward Yang, mockingly raising a fist in anger.
"Yeah, thank the Heavens." Her lilac eyes rolled round in her head, before they suddenly shot back toward the Faunus. "Hey wait a minute. Ruby said Uncle Qrow was there."
"Oh yeah. Yeah!" Ruby agreed, turning to Crue. "He knew you! And you knew him! Why didn't you tell us?!" She pouted, stomping a foot as she and Yang began to approach the Faunus. Crue attempted to back up but was halted thanks to Weiss' iron grip of a hug.
"Uhhhhh, amnesia?" He tried, rapping his head with his knuckles. The frowns, and subsequent yelling, suggested that it didn't work.
…
"And you're sure?" Cinder Fall asked, pacing back and forth in front of Mercury, who was sat on a chair in their dorm.
"Bad hair, had a scythe and smelled like my Dad after a long day." He answered. "It was him. And he looked like he was buddy-buddy with our favourite jackass."
Cinder stopped her pacing and turned to stare at Mercury. "He was friends with Crue?" Emerald spoke up, some worry in her voice.
"What was Cullen doing there?" Cinder asked, frowning in confusion as Mercury chuckled.
"Would you believe me if I said being arrested." The assassin let out a rare laugh at the expressions of Emerald and Cinder.
"Arrested?!" Cinder questioned incredulously.
"No lie." Mercury held up his hands defensively with a deep chuckle. "He was fighting with the Schnee's sister. They were literally handcuffed to each other."
"Did you find out why?" Emerald asked.
"I didn't really stick around, seeing as the Branwen was there, along with the General and Ozpin." Mercury explained. "I'm sure Red or the Heiress know, seeing as they were there, and it was her sister."
"Emerald." Cinder snapped, causing the girl to jump from her seated position on the bed. "You have their numbers, correct?" She waited for Emerald to nod. "Good. Ask them what happened. It might be something we could use to our advantage."
She walked over to her own Scroll as Emerald spoke up. "What do we do about Branwen?"
Cinder paused for a moment, tapping her finger on the table. "Nothing." She decided. "We stay the course. They have no idea who we are, so we have no reason to worry." She picked up her Scroll, observing the Queen virus doing its job.
Not that she would ever tell Watts that she was grateful for his contribution. Especially not after he had to upload the virus when she failed to. The stylized 'W' in the corner of the screen annoyed her. He couldn't even design a system that no one else was meant to know about without branding it.
Her annoyance disappeared completely as a notification appeared. "And it appears we have a new access point." She stared at the profile of James Ironwood.
"Anywhere good?" Emerald piped up.
"You could say that." Cinder nodded. "Go to your rooms. I'll prepare everything for tomorrow." Her two subordinates gave their affirmations as they left, leaving Cinder alone with her Scroll. She very quickly chose a fight for them, before immediately checking the new files she had access to.
General Ironwood's Scroll had a treasure trove of information that she could sift through, but for now, there was only one thing she wanted to find out. "Crue Cullen." She muttered aloud as she searched for whatever information the General had on the Faunus.
A profile was the only thing that popped up. She clicked on it and felt herself disappointed with the lack of information. "Crue Cullen is a student at Beacon Academy. He participated in an unregistered operation against White Fang activity." Cinder frowned, remembering the day in question.
"That's all? Where's the rest of it?" She tried to Scroll down, but there was nothing else. Only some basic information of his height, weight and birthday. She growled to herself, before noticing a small link at the bottom of the page. She clicked, and was immediately brought to a classified looking document.
"Oh, this should be interesting." She sat on the table and crossed her legs as she read. "Confidential: Level 5 Access required." A raven eyebrow raised. What does Ironwood know about Crue that would require such secrecy.
The first sentence made her almost drop the Scroll. "Crue Cullen does not exist." She brought the device close to make sure she didn't misread anything. "Nowhere in Remnant does anyone matching the description of Crue Cullen exist."
"There exists one other family with the surname 'Cullen', currently living in Mantle. As they are residents of Atlas, the families' births and relations have been registered via census, and nowhere is there a Faunus Male. The family in question is also completely Human."
Cinder read on, her mind running a mile a minute. Crue didn't exist? How was that possible. She continued reading. "It is of course possible that Cullen might have lived in a village outside of the main Kingdom's that had been overrun, but as there are no records of any villages being lost around the presumable time of his birth this is unlikely. Along with the fact nowhere in the span of eighteen years did someone matching his description appear."
"What is more concerning is Cullen's knowledge of Project .N.Y. This project is highly confidential. It is unknown what other secrets of Atlas Cullen has knowledge of." Cinder's eyes widened. Crue knew secrets of Atlas, now this was interesting.
"P.E.N.N.Y claims that they do not know how Cullen discovered this information. They also claim that they are in a relationship with Cullen." For some reason, that sentence sparked a feeling of rage inside Cinder, one that she quickly stamped out upon realising existed.
"Recommended action: As Cullen is a student of Beacon Academy, contacting its headmaster and explaining our concerns should be enough to at least grant communication with Cullen. If not, more drastic measure should be taken." Cinder scoffed slightly. It seemed drastic action already was taken.
That appeared to be the end of the file, and while it left Cinder with more questions than answers, she felt as if she had learned enough. She could probably do a better job getting information on Crue than Atlas could.
She was about to close out of the application and look at what else Ironwood had, before she noticed a small flashing icon on the bottom of the screen. She watched, as more text was being added to the file in real time.
A small box in the top left indicated it was being edited by 'Specialist W.S.'. "The Schnee…" Cinder realised, as she watched and read her new additions.
"Contact with Cullen has been made. The immediate concern of his knowledge of Project P.E.N.N.Y. has been addressed, though his answer was unsatisfactory. Cullen claimed to have a love of P.E.N.N.Y. that was purely platonic in nature and was in his own words, 'not an idiot'."
Cinder really needed to find out what Project P.E.N.N.Y. was, because this just kept getting more and more confusing. Regardless, she continued reading. "As for his non-existence, Cullen claims that this is because of the fact he awoke in the Emerald Forest with no memories."
This time Cinder did drop the Scroll. Crue had no memories? The person that constantly aggravated her and fought with her was a damn amnesiac?! Cinder grabbed the Scroll back and continued to read the Schnee's words.
"The Headmaster has collaborated with these statements, though not after thoroughly disagreeing with the actions taken to try and apprehend Cullen. A full profile on Cullen will be made readily available in case a situation like this arises again."
Cinder waited to see if there would be any more, but the more she waited the more agitated she got. When it was obvious that the Schnee had finished her report, Cinder angrily tossed the Scroll onto her bed.
She stood and walked over to the window of the dorm, staring out into the night sky. She didn't need a profile on Crue, she already knew everything she needed to about him. "He's brash, aggravating, and a constant thorn in my side."
"He shows no mercy." She recalled what Ruby Rose had told her about when they discovered the White Fang on their mission. Crue had crushed them without hesitation. "He's reckless." She remembered him riding in on his locker to stop her White Fang operation.
"He's bold. He's aggressive." She stepped away from the window and sat down on her bed, her hands drifting up to her neck as she remembered their spar. "He's relentless. He's strong." Her hands drifted lower, and lower, until she was past the point of no return.
Whatever detailed profile the Schnee was writing could wait. Cinder had her own idea of Crue's 'profile' and was planning on going very in detail.
So, I might have forgotten to flesh out Crue's arrival into this world. And some people have picked up on that. Now Cinder is aware of his apparent lack of memories. A piece of information that might very well change how she views the Faunus.
One thing I do regret is not showing more interactions between Crue, Yang and Blake. Crue has been at Beacon for months now, and has spent enough time with both that they don't really have a problem with Crue viewing them as sisters.
A lot of talking and not a lot of action this chapter, but sometimes that's what's required.
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed, and as always...
Until Next Time
-Friday, the author