Disclaimer: This chapter has spoilers for Volume 3 of RWBY. I suggest watching the first three Volumes of the show - or at least the Volume 3 episode "Fall" - before reading this. This chapter is the first chapter of the two-part premiere of this fanfiction. It is strongly recommended to read this chapter before going on to the second one.
My horse and I have been traveling down this road for a while. How long I have been traveling, I don't know. How long it has been since I went into hiding, I cannot remember. I had become the Fall Maiden, and Ozpin explained to me that while I was given incredible power, I would be hunted for it. My life has pretty much been uneventful since then, and I have steered clear of my pursuers – at least, that's what I had believed.
As we are traveling down the road, I see a young girl crying in the middle of the road. I begin to wonder why she was left in the road all by herself. I feel my heart sink at the sight of this girl abandoned in the middle of nowhere – no one should be left alone like that, especially when they are vulnerable. And I definitely don't want her to fall prey to the creatures of Grimm – my heart can't tolerate the idea of leaving a defenseless child to fend for themselves. So I get off my horse and go to the child and offer her an apple. As the child reaches out for the apple, though, I see a patch of dust move behind her. Something is off.
Before I can completely register what is happening, I am attacked by three figures. I manage to stand my ground against my attackers, but before I can finish off the young girl with the green hair, the amber-eyed woman breaks my Aura and defeats me. The woman has the other two hold me in place as she uses some strange, Grimm-like arm to drain me of the Fall Maiden's powers.
As fear and pain begin to overwhelm me, I eventually blacken out as memories of my life flash before my eyes. As I feel my existence begin to slip away, I have one last thought before finally giving out: How much has my life changed since I became the Fall Maiden?
It's a clear, bright day in Vale. The sun shines bright, and the fields are just as beautiful. A train travels through the wilderness that surrounds the moving machine as it heads toward a town far from the nation's great city of Vale.
Among the train's passengers is a young girl. She has light-brown skin, brown straight hair that goes down to the bottom of her neck, and brown eyes. She is wearing a short-sleeved white blouse that has floral etchings around the neckline and the edge of the sleeves. Her light-blue jeans are completely straightened, as though they were just ironed, they also have a brown belt going around the top of the jeans. The slim girl has been staring out the window for a while now, observing the scenery around her with a vacant expression. She can see, in the reflection of the glass, a mouth moving, but she doesn't understand what it is saying.
The young girl begins to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. As she does so, a familiar voice resonates within her mind: "Amber!" The young girl is jolted awake by the voice of a woman with a lighter complexion than the girl, and whose hair reaches further down her back. She is wearing a purple dress with a pattern of autumn leaves as its design. The most notable thing about this woman was the golden necklace she wore, which hangs on the woman's neck and has an ametrine on it.
Before the young girl can come back to her senses, the woman speaks again. "Are you paying attention?" Amber knows the answer, but she decides to be sly about responding to the question.
"Yes, I am, aunt," the young girl retorts, attempting to sound as convincing as she could. The woman obviously sees through her lie.
"Don't you dare try to be foxy, Amber." Her aunt calls her bluff. "I swear! One day, that devious streak of yours will be the end of me you-!"
A more calm voice interrupts the aunt. "Aunt. Amber's only young. Trying to force responsibility onto her right now will only hurt her." The voice belongs to a young man with a similar appearance as Amber, but his hair only goes up to the top of his neck. And instead of a blouse, he wears an orange T-shirt with a design hidden by a zipped-up, hoodless and sleeveless black sweater.
"Mind you, she did have to leave many friends behind. And I have to admit…" The youth looks around quickly to find no one else in the same cart as them, much to his relief. "I think that you would have offended some Faunus with your statement…"
Amber attempts to suppress a giggle from coming out of her mouth, but to no avail. "What's so funny, young lady?" Her aunt barks at Amber, having heard her giggle. Amber quickly becomes somber again, letting out a scoff that irritates the woman.
The young boy stops his aunt before she could scold Amber again. "Please take it easy on her, aunt. Let me talk to her." He says this in a more serious tone as he turns his attention to Amber.
"Sis, I know it's hard, having to let go of everything you had back in Vale. But this is a chance to make new friends and have a fresh start in life. So believe me when I say that we'll get through this. Alright?"
Amber looks at her brother. They hadn't been close in Amber's younger years. But recently, they've become closer to one another, sharing their admiration for and loss of their deceased mother.
"Okay, Jayden. I'll try." She gives him a small smile as she returns her focus to the environment beyond her window. When she does look out, though, she is invited to the sight of a horse running through the fields, free and unbound. She forces her body towards the window, a palm on the glass as she marvels at the sight of this scene, wishing in her mind that she could be like the horse.
However, this spectacle doesn't last long as she observes three other men on horses chasing after it, with lassoes on them. She realizes that they are trying to wrangle the horse, much to her distress. She then makes up a plan to save the horse from its pursuers.
"Excuse me, aunt. I gotta go. I'll be right back." The aunt allows her, assuming that she needs to use the restroom. "Alright, but don't take too long. We'll be arriving soon." Amber simply nods as she rushes to the back of the train. Of course, Jayden notices this and only opens his mouth when he processes a minor fact in his mind.
"Isn't the restroom the other way?" Jayden states this to his aunt, as he directs their attention towards the direction Amber went towards, the door to the back barely closing as they focus their eyes on it.
Amber sees the horse attempting to escape from the wranglers and their lassoes. The horse follows behind the back of the train, and Amber stares at the equine marvel. The horse observes her as she reaches out to pet it.
Before she can reach her hand out to the horse, though, one of the wranglers manages to lasso the horse, attempting to pull it away from the train. She attempts to reach her hand out to the lasso to remove it from the horse, but the two wranglers manage to get their lassoes on the horse, pulling the horse away with their combined strength.
"No!" Amber shouts as the wranglers cheer and take the horse away. The train shakes around, which causes Amber to lose her balance and, after a futile amount of effort to keep herself on the train, begins to fall forward away from the train.
So this is where my story ends…? I fail to save a horse from captivity and I will be left behind by the train, where I will fall prey to any Grimm or criminals that find me. And I will be completely incapable of defending myself…
At this thought, Amber begins to let herself fall forward to her inevitable doom as she feels tears well up in her eyes - although none would come out. But then she feels her shirt being yanked as she is pulled back from the edge of the train. She then turns to find her brother right next to her.
"Are you right, sis?!" The panic in Jayden's voice is apparent to Amber, and his fearful expression further expresses it. But she finds herself staring towards the wranglers, who are dragging the poor horse away. Jayden lets out a sigh before he speaks again. "Come on. Let's get you back in."
Amber doesn't resist as Jayden helps walk her back into their cart. As they return inside the train, their aunt sees Amber and the woman snaps at her own niece.
"What were you thinking?! You could have fallen over! You should be glad that your brother was there to save you." Amber didn't have the focus or will to return a witty retort to her aunt. "You are supposed to be an Autumn, and yet you continuously act like an irresponsible brat! Why were you out there when you said you needed to use the restroom, anyways?! If it were up to me, you would have been-!"
"Aunt!" Jayden's voice is more harsher than it was before. The woman reluctantly relents as Jayden returns his attention to his sister. "Are you okay, Amber?!" The girl can't help but wonder about the horse. "Will the horse be alright?"
Jayden begins to panic. "Tell me, are you okay?" His question is again ignored by Amber's concern about the horse. "The men won't hurt it, will they?"
Jayden's patience begins to wear thin. "Amber!" He shakes the young girl as he shouts at her. "Please tell me you're okay! Say something, anything!" Their aunt loses her patience for her niece. "I swear, you ungrateful-!"
Before she can finish her exclamation, the train's resonant bell rings through their cart, signaling the train's arrival to their destination. Their aunt lets out a heavy sigh as she regains her composure. "We're not done talking, young lady."
Amber would've sneaked in a snicker at her aunt, but she felt drained from both the uncertainty of the horse's safety and her barely recovering from what could've been the end of her life. So instead she focuses on bracing herself for whatever would come next as Jayden regains his composure.
The door of the train opens and the Autumn family stands before a woman whose hair changes colors as the sun's light hits it. She wears a silk dress that has a badge with an emblem of the sun shooting down three rays of light towards the group. Her hair is tied in a bun, making Amber wonder if the woman's hair length is too long for the woman that she has to tie it.
She bows to them as they walk out the train. "Welcome to Adelite. I hope your ride here was comfortable." She then proceeds to shake the hands of Madame Autumn and Jayden. However, before she can extend her hand out to Amber, a young girl's voice booms out.
"Stop!" The voice comes from a golden-haired girl, who rushes toward them. The young girl has a bright white dress with golden outlines. Her hair is tied into a braid that falls through the front of her right shoulder up to the top of her right breast. She also has golden earrings and a necklace with the same emblem as the one on the woman's dress.
"I told you that I wanted to be the first one to shake her hand!" After that interjection, the girl turns her attention to Amber. "My name is Ashley Aureum, the daughter of the town's mayor. I am looking forward to becoming friends with a girl my age who is much more civilized than the other people in this town."
The young girl speaks with a slightly condescending tone, and if Amber noticed it, she wasn't saying anything. Ashley reaches out her hand out to Amber, and the latter hesitantly locks their hands with the former. "Amber. Amber Autumn."
The young Autumn silently introduces herself, uncomfortable with the politeness this girl was portraying. The gesture is firm and grip, and it lasts for a few seconds before her attendant clears her throat, reminding Ashley of something else.
"Ah, thank you, Miss Opal. Since this is your first time here, allow me the honor of giving you all a tour of Adelite. If you don't mind." Ashley's tone is less condescending this time, and the generosity and kindness in her voice seems as though it has melted the heart of Amber's aunt.
"Oh, how kind! I would love to have a tour of the town." Then her aunt turns to her niece. "Why can't you be like this kind lady here?" Amber mentally cringes at the idea, but she offers no resistance. Ashley then begins to show the Autumn family to the town of Adelite, which Amber took no note of.
Nothing eventful occurs during the tour - that is, until towards the end of it. Ashley is presenting the sheriff's office to the family, where she is explaining that the sheriff stays in the tower with the huge bell at the edge of the town during the night in case raiders come then.
"Not that anyone would be foolish to raid this well-protected town." Ashley adds this - with her usual condescending tone - as an unfamiliar voice delivers an unforeseen retort.
"Oh, yeah? Then tell me, why have the raiders' attacks on this town become more and more persistent?" The touring group - minus Jayden and their aunt, who are looking through the office - turns their attention towards a group of youths standing before them, wearing mainly hostile expressions on their faces.
The most notable figure among the group is a dark-skinned girl, who wears a long-sleeved, light-brown shirt with a black vest over it. She also has a pair of jeans like Amber, but hers are darker and less straight in comparison to the young girl's own pair.
Wait, how did I not notice such a big group? This should have been an easy crowd to spot! Amber notes this as Ashley opens her mouth, who takes advantage of Amber's aunt and brother taking a tour of the sheriff's office, adopting a smug and defiant tone. "Why, if it isn't the riffraff of Adelite!"
The dark-skinned girl continues. "Playing the role of the 'innocent good girl' again? You're not fooling anyone, you know." Ashley covers his mouth as she lets out a snicker. "Oh, please. Such false accusations. At least my friend here is much more civilized than the rest of you."
"How dare you!" Another girl yells at Ashley. She has light skin and blonde hair that extends up to the girl's neck. She is wearing a fluffy-looking, cream-colored dress that goes to her knees and has a turtleneck-style collar. She also wears black pants that go down to the top of her ankles.
She doesn't take well to the insult and attempts to approach Ashley, but the dark-skinned girl tries to stop her. "Vanilla, no!" She says this as she is trying to pull her away from the mayor's daughter. The offended youth is persistent as she fights back tears threatening to slip out of her eyes. "But she's being mean! I hate it!"
The dark-skinned girl then tries to talk some sense into Vanilla. "Save your energy, please. She's not worth the trouble…" Vanilla takes a deep breath as she calms down, her anger only visible now in the form of a pout.
A light-skinned, red-haired teenager then steps up. She wears a sleeveless white shirt with the emblem of a golden horse on it, which reminds Amber of the horse she failed to save. Her black, thin pants extend out to her shins, she has brown gloves on, and she wears a red bow on her head.
That teenager walks next to the dark-skinned girl and makes a paralyzing statement. "So in other words, that girl is your puppet." Amber is shocked by the comment. She tries to clear the misunderstanding, if anyone could see it as such, but Ashley's mouth spills out their words before Amber can speak.
"Hmph, how rude of you to suggest that. She is a willing friend of mine, and I pity that you cannot understand that." Jayden and his aunt arrive as Ashley finishes her declaration. The aunt notices the crowd and comes to her own conclusion regarding the situation.
"Is there a problem? If not, then run along. I don't appreciate your lack of manners." Her voice - and the group's knowledge of the woman's identity - is enough to discourage the group from continuing, but that doesn't stop them from booing and jeering at Ashley and Amber as they leave.
Amber awkwardly waves at them, but they still jeer at them - minus a male teenager who returns the gesture. She then lets out a sigh of sadness. So much for making friends. A pang of sorrow hits her as she sees the faces of disappointment and hatred in the group. Unbeknownst to her, though, the male teenager develops an interest in her. "She doesn't seem as snobby as they make her out to be…"
The Autumn family are eventually led by Ashley to a decently big house. The house is a two-story building with a brown exterior. The wooden door to the house has a maple leaf carving etched into it - the insignia of the Autumn family.
"This is the estate that my father, the mayor of Adelite, has provided for you. On his behalf, I wish to extend the town's gratitude to your family for your undertakings for the town's expansion." The sky is now less brighter as it was earlier - a sign of the eventual sunset to mark the arrival of the night - and Opal whispers something to Ashley.
"Ah, yes. Mister Autumn, despite his previously projected time of arrival, had arrived the day before, so he has already taken the liberty of settling down. Speaking of 'day,' we shall meet again tomorrow morning for your speech, Madame Autumn. Have a wonderful evening."
They then walk away to attend to other business, leaving the Autumn family at the front of their house. The siblings share an expression of joy while her aunt expresses annoyance. "Oh, great…"
They enter their new house as they hear a familiar voice of a man in a nearby room, saying something about "prepare the site for demolition" or something like that. They then arrive at the kitchen as the man finishes his call on his Scroll. He then looks up and adopts a joyful expression on his face as he sees them.
"Ametrine! How are you do-?" Their aunt interrupts him mid-speech. "Don't bother, Oak. I have no reason to greet or be greeted by you." Amber and Jayden don't take well to Ametrine's disrespect. Jayden voices his exasperation. "Aunt, please show him some respect, or at least pretend to for our sake…" She scoffs at them as she walks to a different room in the house.
After Ametrine leaves the room, Amber rushes to the man. "Dad!" She gives him a tight bear hug and her father returns it. "Hey, Amber. Hey, Jayden." Amber's brother joins in on the hug.
"What happened? How did you get here earlier?" Jayden asks, prompting a story to fly out of their father's mouth. "The aircraft taking me to Adelite was struck down by a Nevermore, but not that mattered. I found the journey on foot much faster anyways. In fact, I was surprised to learn that I beat you guys to the town when I got here."
They share a laugh over the story. Whether it was true or not, they enjoyed his tales, especially Amber. She has always been enamored by tales of great heroes and mighty warriors. Her favorite fairy tale was "The Four Seasons," though she has questioned at times whether the old man can actually bestow such magic or even has any himself.
Amber's father then remembers something. "Oh, yeah. Speaking of 'getting here earlier,' I managed to get your room ready before you arrived. Wanna see it?" Amber's eyes widen upon hearing this. "Really?! I wanna see it!"
And so up the stairs they go to reach a room with a good amount of Amber's stuff set up - her bed, some motivational posters (I can assure you, reader, that none of them would offend any Faunus), and pretty much whatever else a room needs. "I managed to save a good amount of your stuff from the aircraft incident, but no guarantees that everything is here, alright?"
Amber, who has already studied the entire room, exclaims. "Everything's here. It's all here!" Her father sighs. "Oh, good, because I swore that I might have lost a few things on my way to Adelite. Glad to know that everything is safe."
The three take some time to talk about their lives so far, between Oak's adventures as a Huntsman, Jayden's training in Signal Academy, and Amber's time with her friends at Vale.
As they are talking, Ametrine calls out to them. "Dinner's ready!" And so the three rush to the kitchen to eat dinner. After a well-cooked dinner, the only thing Amber would admit that - aside from being her mother's sister - makes her aunt Ametrine tolerable to live with, she goes to her own room as she reflects on her miserable day so far.
I must admit, I was hoping to make at least one friend, but I can't exactly call Ashley a friend. And instead of a friend, I literally made a group of enemies. I'm surprised that children could look that angry… So much for a fresh start…
A knock comes from the door and, as if though he had sensed his own daughter's sorrow, Oak's voice resonates from the other side of the door. "Hey, Amber. Are you there?" Amber composes herself before responding. "Yes, come in."
She then opens the door for her father to come inside her room. "How was your day so far?" Her father's first question was answered with a simple response. "It's alright, I guess." Her father looks at her as she forces a smile on her mouth, attempting to convince him that she's alright and to get the topic over with.
As fun and easy-going he can be at times, Oak is a good father, so he is able to see through Amber's disguise. "Don't lie to me. It will only hurt more just to hide your pain." Amber looks at her father, whose eyes give away a small hint of sadness. "Am I that easy to read?"
Her father replies. "You're my daughter. If I can't tell when you're upset, then I'm doing a terrible job being your father." Amber chuckles a bit, adjusting herself before she speaks.
"I don't know if I'll be able to make friends here…" She tries not to say anything more, but Oak knows what she is talking about. "Is it about those kids who got mad at you for no good reason?"
Amber opens her eyes. "How did you know?" Her father scratches the back of his head before he answers. "Jayden told me about that… But let me tell you something, Amber." He fixes himself on Amber's bed. She is now wearing a pair of pajamas. The white shirt's sleeves reach up to her wrists and her black pants go up to around her ankle.
"This is only your first day here in Adelite. It may have been… as bad as I have been told it was, but nothing's settled on the first day. Who knows, they may be your friends the next day. But please trust me when I say that things can get better from here. Don't expect everything that happens on the first day to determine the rest of your time in this town. We'll get through this, I promise."
Amber looks at her father. "Do you promise?" Her father holds out his pinky finger to her. "Pinky promise." As much as Amber has her own doubts, her father's words aren't something she would take for granted. Their pinky fingers lock together and, after letting go, Oak checks his Scroll and realizes that it's getting late.
"Well, we gotta get our rest for tomorrow. It'll be a long day for us, and we'll need the energy." He then kisses her on the forehead before walking towards the door. "Goodnight, sweetie." Amber replies back. "Goodnight, Dad." He closes the door and heads downstairs to his room.
Amber gets off her bed to look out the window of her room, still having concerns about her new life. Would I actually be able to make any friends…? She yawns as she walks back to her bed, eventually drifting to sleep.
The next day, she wakes up to the sound of her aunt calling her from the door. "Amber, time to wake up. We have to get ready for the speech in the town." Amber barely manages to wake her body up as her aunt opens the door, but Amber is not able to brace herself for what she would see before her.
"Aunt… What is that?" She adjusts her eyes for a moment before complete horror strikes her. "No. No! That's not what I think it is, is it?!" Before her is an orange and brown dress with real maple leaves decorated onto the outfit.
Amber recognizes the dress as the ill-fitting outfit that her aunt had her try on once. Accompanying the dress are two brown high heels with a maple leaf design towards the end of the shoe.
Amber gulps at the sight of her outfit. "Please tell me the shoes will fit better than the dress…" She isn't usually conflicted with wearing fancy outfits like the dress and shoes before her, but…
If I wore that to the speech, not only would I have a hard time walking, I won't be making friends trying to look fancy. I can't let this happen!
Her aunt speaks. "The people may be more focused on the speech I will deliver, but I wish for everyone in the family attending to look presentable. And no, you cannot stay in the house. Now change into the dress, I do not wish to be late just because you took a long time to get ready."
Amber can imagine the humiliation she would feel if she had to wear that - she decides to put every ounce of effort into resisting her aunt's "ridiculous" request.
"No! I won't put the dress on! I'd rather die than put on that dress! You can't make me!" Minutes later, Amber finds herself struggling to walk in the shoes that she was forced, alongside the dress, to wear. Stupid dress, stupid shoes, stupid aunt!
She wanted so badly to curse at her aunt for not giving her a choice as usual, but she didn't want to make herself look bad. And she didn't have the energy to after failing to avoid having to wear the dress. The family eventually arrives on the stage set up for the speech. Amber takes some time to observe her family's attire.
Amber's brother Jayden is wearing a black-and-brown suit that has their family's insignia pinned on the shirt. His brown hair is combed to his right, and his right hand's wrist sports a silver watch on it. Either it's for show, or he really wants to keep track of time.
She then looks over at her father Oak. He is wearing his Huntsman attire, which consists of a black jacket over a brown shirt, a pair of black pants with a belt that holds her father's Dust and his weapons, a pair of revolvers that can transform into daggers. His black hair is messy as usual, and he shares the brown eyes Amber has. I guess Aunt didn't have time to tell him to do his hair. Lucky Dad…
She then turns her attention to her aunt, who is wearing a brown dress that has an orange-red, maple-leaf patterned design on it with golden outlines on the dress alongside an orange scarf that is wrapped around her neck. I guess she prefers going all out on occasions like this… I only wish I wasn't dragged here like this…
As she finishes that thought, the mayor walks up the stage, introducing himself and giving a small speech before he introduces Amber's aunt up to the podium to deliver her speech. Amber is not one to listen to grand speeches about change and plans and she sure as hell isn't going to be one now.
So instead of listening to her aunt's speech, she takes out from a pocket of her dress the photo of her father and mother in their younger years. How amazing it would be to live a life like Mom and Dad…
As she is lost in thought, though, she overhears the dark-skinned girl and two other girls mocking her. "I see, so she thinks that just because she's being treated royally that she gets to ignore this speech. What a snobby girl." The girls let out a chuckle as they hear her say this, and Amber can't help but frown and sigh. If only they knew the true me, they would love me…
After a good amount of time passes, the Autumn family is dismissed from the stage as the mayor proceeds to continue with the day's speeches. However, as the young Autumn begins to walk off-stage, she loses her balance and falls over, falling face-first as the girls and their friends laugh at her, much to her despair.
As she adjusts her sight to look at the audience gathered, all she can see in them is contempt and hatred for her, and all because Ashley is her friend - if she can even call her one. As the youth of the town continues to embarrass her, the male teenager approaches her and extends his hand out to her.
"Do you need some help?" Tears begin to well up in her eyes as the boy asks her this. Was he mocking me? Trying to make me feel unwelcome? Trying to make me look like a baby? Anger begins to well up in her, fueled by the belief that this boy was trying to humiliate her. She isn't having any of that today. He chose the wrong day to mess with me…
As the boy waits for her to take his hand, she suddenly slaps his hand away as she shouts. "I don't need your help!" Her voice is loud and threatening enough to shock the boy and the audience. The heartbroken girl then rushes off in anger - of course not without difficulty - as she rushes past her family, who stopped walking after hearing her outburst.
The dark-skinned girl approaches the boy as Amber is leaving. "See, what did we tell you, William? She's just as snobby as that princess. And you thought they were different." The dark-skinned girl mocks the young boy, who naively believed that Amber was different from Ashley. "I guess…" He lets out a sigh, his hopes literally slapped out of his hand.
As he begins to take a step, though, he stops his foot and looks below him, finding a rectangular white object on the ground. He then sees a photo of a man and woman and he gaps. Don't tell me… I need to return this to them. He then begins to walk towards the same direction as the Autumn family did.
Amber and her family have returned to their house, where Jayden is attempting to calm the young girl. "Please, sis, calm down!" She does not listen to him. "No! Why should I calm down, after everything I have been through?!" Amber makes it obvious that she will not listen to them, and her aunt doesn't make it any easier for Jayden to pacify his sister's anger.
"There you go again, acting like an immature child!" Jayden's patience for Ametrine is beginning to wear thin. "Aunt, not now!" Ametrine ignores her nephew's plea. "Don't defend her! She almost fell off a train! She fought over one dress! One! For Remnant's sake, she slapped an innocent boy! What kind of lady does that?! She's lost her damn-!"
At this rate, Jayden's patience for his aunt has pretty much been thrown out the window. "By the Brothers, please shut up!" Ametrine is heavily stunned to hear her own nephew speak vulgarly, but she simply relents. Amber's father then speaks.
"Honey, please. I told you that just because it was bad the first day doesn't mean that-!" Amber finally snaps. "Just stop, Dad! Everyone just shut up!" Everyone is shocked to hear the young girl as she begins to break into tears.
"You said that things can only get better from here, but you're wrong, Dad! It only got worse. What kind of father lies to his own daughter about that?!" Her father tries to speak, but he couldn't find the words he had hoped to help Amber with.
"And you, Au- Ametrine! All you care about is your own pride! You don't care if I kill myself because I have no friends - as long as I am an 'obedient good girl,' you could care less if I was tearing myself apart."
Ametrine's body shakes from these words as she breaks into tears. If there was one thing she was terrible at (aside from parenting, of course, as you have read), it was keeping herself in control, especially when it came down to sadness - she is heavily vulnerable to the feeling of rejection. Jayden then attempts to interject. "Amber, we-"
"No, I don't want to hear it!" The shocked Jayden freezes as she yells at him, her voice trembling. "I wish we didn't come here! I wish you all were never born! I hate you all!" The tearful Amber then rushes up the stairs, albeit with some difficulty due to her ill-fitting outfit, and locks herself in her room, leaving her family in tears. They are left so speechless that they can't do anything but walk to their kitchen in despair, holding their dwindling hopes in their minds.
Back in her room, Amber violently removes her dress and her shoes, leaving her with just the blouse and jeans she came to Adelite in, which she was allowed to wear after having submitted to wearing the dress and shoes her aunt chose for her. She told herself that things wouldn't get as bad as they are now, but that obviously wasn't the case. They laughed at her without reservation, not even a hint of pity or at least sympathy. No, they enjoyed seeing Amber humiliate herself! And they took joy in dragging her lower and lower to the depths of her despair!
I hate my family, I hate this town, and I hate everyone here! I wish I could just kill-! She stops herself. No, if mother was still alive, she wouldn't want me thinking like that… She then digs her hand into the pocket of her dress for her photo, struggling to guide her hand through her pockets. Her heart begins to sink when she realizes that the photo is gone.
No. No, no, no! Where is it?! She begins to break down. Wait, maybe it slipped out of my dress when I threw it… She searches underneath her bed, double checks her clothes, and even scans the floor carefully, but nothing! Everything had already been going bad in Adelite, but this? This was the worst possible outcome in Amber's perspective.
She then curls into a ball like a child in the corner of her room, sobbing uncontrollably as she has lost the last thing that she had of her mother to hold on to. Mom, please… Help me… I have no one left, not even Dad… For the first time in her life, she had felt such loneliness. No one would be there to stand by her side to help her navigate the perils of life in Remnant. If there had been any hope left in her for a good life in Adelite, it had been extinguished now.
She continues to sob uncontrollably. She begins to think that maybe she should have fallen off that train, maybe she should have submitted to being Ashley's friend, maybe she should have just ran away when she had the chance. Maybe I should have never been born. No one would miss me then…
Just as she lets despair and misery consume her, the house's doorbell resonates through the building. Who could possibly bother the Autumns at their darkest hour?
Back in the kitchen, Oak, Ametrine and Jayden are sitting in silence. They knew they were being selfish, but they didn't know that Amber, of all of them, had paid the price. She is still only a young girl, and she was easier than the rest of them to break, especially in a hostile environment. They can hear her sobbing from her room, their hearts sinking further and further as the girl was destroying herself.
After a long period of listening to Amber shuffling about in her room and sobbing some more, Oak manages to let some words out. "I kept telling her to be strong, but I should've known that you can't just tell someone to become strong…"
Ametrine stopped him. "No, Oak. I'm supposed to be responsible, and yet I did a terrible job raising my own niece. Some aunt I am, forcing a child to be responsible too soon."
Jayden then interjected. "Stop, both of you. I know you haven't been around most of her life, but I'm even worse. Picking on her just because Mother was giving her more attention, all I did was make Amber sensitive. She's been strong her entire life, but that's only because she had us to help her. If we fall apart now… I fear Amber will never recover from this. As much as she blames others, she would blame herself the most for being selfish."
They sit in silence again. They have no idea how to help Amber, and she even pushed them away because they gave her either false promises or words that she didn't need. As the three continue to contemplate on their faults, the doorbell of their house rings.
"I'm not getting that…" Ametrine speaks in a tone that made her sound like she was drained of her youth and even life. And even Oak looks like a man on the verge of death. Ultimately, it is Jayden who stands up to get the door.
"I'll go…" He says this as he walks towards the door. Who could possibly want something to do with their collapsing family, especially at this hour? Jayden thinks this as he opens the door to find a young boy standing before him.
"Greetings. Is this the Autumn estate?" Jayden studies the fair-skinned boy he recognized as the one of the kids in the group that bullied his sister Amber. His smooth, dark blue hair is swept to his right, and he is wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with a pair of khakis. In his arm, he is holding his beige jacket, and he has a scar on his right cheek.
After Jayden finishes scanning the boy, he attempts to slam the door on him, but the youth swiftly places his foot to stop him from closing the door. "Wait! Please, hear me out." The youth's words, even after Jayden bothered to close the door on him, sounded soft.
"Fine, but I'm not letting you in." Jayden was still distrusting of this youth, but at least he wasn't being rude. He decided to hear the boy out, or at least humor him.
"Thank you. I had no intention of entering your home, though." After composing himself, the boy begins to introduce himself. "To begin with, my name is William Wildflower. I'm the sheriff's son, and yes, I am aware I am among the ones in the group that bullied your… um…"
Jayden realizes that the kid doesn't know whose family member he is talking to. "She's my sister." William continues. "Yes, your sister. While many of my friends indeed have… negative opinions about your sister, I do not believe them. And…"
William then reaches his hand to the right pocket of his pants. "I believe your sister - Amber, I recall Ashley referring to her as - dropped this." Jayden opens his eyes in surprise as he realizes that it's the photo of his parents in their younger years. He then recalls a time when he originally was meant to keep it.
Amber was barely a young child when her mother had died. She was crying for her mother, who accused the people who attended the funeral of locking her mother in that coffin against her will. Jayden, who was given the photo to keep, knew though that she knew the truth: She never was going to hear her mother's stories as a Huntress anymore. She would never be able to play with her mother anymore. And most importantly, she would never see her mother again.
Tears began to form in Jayden's eyes as he made a grand realization. We both loved her, our mother. And yet I was jealous of Amber just because she was getting more attention. Mother loved us both equally. But Amber's the one who needs support right now, not me. So he approached Amber and held out the photo to the young girl.
"Here. I was told that I should keep it, but I think it belongs to you, sis." The young girl began to wipe her eyes. "But… She's gone forever. And they gave it to you, didn't they?" Her brother let out a smile she would have never seen before since he wasted his days picking on her. "I may have been given the photo, but I think Mother would want you to have it. And you'll need it more than I will."
The young Amber reached out her hand and considered grabbing it, but she pulled her arm back. She had known her brother to be mean to her their entire life, so why now? Why was he being nice to her now? She didn't know the answer - until she looked at Jayden's teary ears. "You miss Mom, too… Don't you?"
At that moment, Jayden broke into tears as he gave the young Amber a big, tight hug. "Yes, I do. It hurts knowing that we'll never see her again, but now it hurts even more that I treated you wrong when she wanted us to get along. I can't just make up for all that time I wasted bullying you… But I can become a better brother - for Mother's sake."
As this memory slips from his mind, he returns his attention to the photo that William presented to him. "Why are you returning this to us? I thought you all hated Amber." William winces at the idea before continuing explaining himself.
"While it seems that way, I feel as though my friends' understanding of Amber is misguided, to say the least. Indeed, Ashley has acquainted herself with Miss Autumn, but… I find it senseless to judge a character by their connections, if you understand what I say."
He is strange, considering his formality… Jayden gets a small chance to think this to himself before he speaks. "I kinda do, but what does Ashley have to do with Amber being bullied?" Jayden questions this, and William responds. "Because she thinks lowly of us. Like Amber, she also was taken away from her own home for important reasons. However, unlike your sister, she has no desire for friendship. In other words, she sees everyone as either a slave or peasant."
He takes a breath in before saying this. "Frankly, I've found myself desiring to take her life with my own hands at times." His face adopts an expression of concealed anger before he relaxes his face. "But I have a family and friends, and I can't afford to jeopardize their lives just for the sake of pointless revenge."
As he states this, a voice from behind Jayden speaks. "What's going on?" The family and William turn to find Amber at the bottom of the stairs, her face dry from crying. "Amber, I presume? I believe this is yours." Amber walks over to William, who shows her the photo she was looking for. She quickly snatches without warning from his hand, much to the shock of William and Jayden.
After a quick and hostile glance at William, she just as quickly walks towards the stairs. Ametrine, seeing this exchange, attempts to open her mouth before stopping herself. What's the point? She would just brush me off again like she usually does… So stayed silent, Ametrine did.
Of course, Jayden doesn't feel okay with simply letting his sister's rude behavior slide. "Amber, please thank him for returning it! Or at least apologize for being rude..." Amber is just reaching the bottom of the stairs as he calls out to her, but William interjects.
"No, it's okay. After the way we treated her - and the fact I didn't stand up for her - we don't deserve an apology... I understand if she has no desire to thank me for returning the photo…" Amber looks back a quick moment from the middle of the stairs before continuing back to her room.
"I will now take my leave. Good day." William then leaves, a solemn expression on his face as he closes the door. A thought then crosses William's mind. I wonder… if I had spoken up and convinced my friends that she wasn't Ashley, would Amber have been in a better position?
Back in her room, Amber is sitting down on her bed, looking with a crestfallen expression at the photo that her brother had given her. She hoped that, when she did find her photo and got it back, she would be able to figure out what to do. But nothing came to her. Did I actually believe that getting back my parents' photo would give me the answer? Or am I truly lost?
She lets out a sigh before returning to her thoughts. Did he actually want to give me back the photo? Or was he pretending to be nice? And what am I supposed to do…? After a moment of thinking, she still can't think of anything, shaking her head furiously as she makes a dreaded realization.
I'm lost… I am actually lost. She sighs as she attempts to get some sleep. Not even thinking about her frustrations has exhausted her and she finds herself unable to sleep. She tries some small exercises and looks through the Internet in her Scroll.
Hell, she even writes a one-page entry in her diary devoted to expressing her hatred, and she still has difficulty sleeping. She internally sighs as she asks the one question that, if I were there to tell her, she shouldn't have asked. Can things get any worse?
Meanwhile, a young man is on the top of the bell tower to detect any suspicious activity. He is wearing a tattered black cloak over a dark-red shirt tucked into a pair of black pants. His dagger hangs from the crimson belt that surrounds his pants, and he sports a scar on his neck. He was assigned to act on watch duty in response to increased raids on Adelite. While it has only been a month since he was hired, he has gained enough experience to differentiate between what's normal and strange in and around the town.
Random animals on the prowl - nope. A random tumbleweed in the distance - nope. A large group of masked men riding on horses towards our direction - nope.
A quick pause, and he looks again at the group of men heading towards Adelite. Wait a minute… Black clothing, weapons, masks on their faces… Oh… Oh, no! By the Brothers, I gotta get the sheriff now! It takes a matter of seconds as he rushes to the makeshift office in the tower and shakes the drunken sheriff awake from his slumber.
"Wha-?! Brunn Branwen, why on Remnant are you-?!" Before he can finish that statement, the man notices the fear in Brunn's eyes, indicating the young man's panic. "They are here, sheriff." Brunn declares with a fearful expression. The sheriff raises his right eyebrow to express his doubt.
"Are you sure it's them?" Brunn sighs as he directs the sheriff to the top of the tower. He hands the binoculars to the sheriff as he points at the men heading there. After seeing the masked men in black, the sheriff takes the binoculars off his face.
"It's them, alright. Sound the alarm! You know how! Once you get the chance to, jump into the action! I have a feeling that this battle will be more difficult than we can handle…" The inexperienced youth nods and begins to ring the bell in a specific pattern. The sheriff begins his way to the outskirts of the town with his longsword in hand, muttering something to himself as he exits the bell tower.
"This is going to be one long, grim night…"
Author's Notes: I had fun imagining what Amber's life was like before she would become the Fall Maiden. And what better way is there to focus on the struggles of life in Remnant than some worldbuilding and drama? Anyways, I hope you liked reading this chapter and that you'll support the rest of this fanfic.