Chapter 5. Paper Tigers

Been feeling pretty stressed lately, especially with the new job, but hey! Payday's this Thursday. The pacing in this one may feel kinda odd, but that's because a lot of stuff I'm setting up for later chapters can occur (yes, that's an excuse; no, it doesn't make the story better). I got the title of this chapter from the song "Paper Tigers" by the band Thrice, so do yourselves a favor and check it out if you're into rock. They've also made several albums that touch on different genres of music, so if you don't like this particular song or its album, don't worry. I recommend "Alchemy Index" "Illusion of Safety" and "Artist in the Ambulance".

Anyway, imagine Michael being played by Johnny Yong Bosch and Gabriel by Bryce Pappenbrook.

Enjoy!

In a dark room, a red blade slashed and sliced through grimm. Its owner wore a confident grin, a muscle shirt, his hair in the form of a rose, and a white mask with red lines over the eyeholes. More of the aggressive demons approached the swordsman, his weapon steady and not a hint of relent on his mind. Mercury and Emerald stayed to the back, Watts and Hazel at the opposite side of the room. The two grown men looked slightly impressed while the two young adults just watched looking disappointed.

The last grimm to approach Adam was an ape grimm, growling as it made its slow approach on all fours. It stood on its hind limbs, beat its chest, and let out a loud roar. As the chandelier above shook, Adam sprinted towards the grimm with the utmost confidence. The beast's reflexes kicked in and it punched at the man, only for him to sidestep and stab the monster through its armpit. All the way through, he pulled the blade down and cut off the ape's arm. As it grabbed its shoulder with the other hand, the swordsman jumped into the air and horse cut its head in half.

Adam smiled triumphantly as the room filled with smoke from the corpses of his dead foes.

"Time!" He shouted, followed by Mercury checking his phone.

"One minute, sixteen seconds." Mercury replied.

"Cinder could do all of that in ten." Emerald angrily whispered to herself.

Emerging from the shadows was a woman with bleach white skin, burning red eyes, visible black veins, and a wearing purple and black dress.

"Cinder also had five years of training under me. Here on your first day, you've at least shown you can hold your own against a large unit of grimm." The pale woman noted. "However, our mission is now your mission; the grimm are now a tool for you to use to take Ozpin down, no one else."

"Of course, Salem." Adam remarked. "After all, my dream can't work without the success of yours."

Salem never would have thought an over-confident demeanor would irritate her so much. "That'll be all for now. You're dismissed."

Adam made his way out to his new quarters, or what used to be Cinder's quarters. The two grown men approached the doors as well, Hazel looking back at Salem.

"M'lady, do you want us to wait in the war room for our next debriefing?" He asked.

Salem nodded her head. "Actually, I'd like some time alone. I'm going to wait in there and you can come back in about half-an-hour."

With the two men gone, Emerald and Mercury made their way out as well. Just before this, the two warriors spoke about ditching Salem at their first opportunity, but was it that simple? Adam had now taken Cinder's place in Salem's grand scheme, meaning he'd be the one to further her dream. Would abandoning Salem mean spitting on Cinder's grave? Cinder gave Emerald a home away from the slums and gutters she survived on, so was she only a part of Cinder's group so she wouldn't go hungry anymore? More questions pounded in the girl's mind as she and her friend walked off.

Now by herself, Salem walked out of the training room and through her castle's hallways. Along the walls were statues of muscular men and beautiful women, wrapped in cloths and togas. At the end of the hallway stood a statue of two men holding a large disk which had three smaller circles in the center. Engraved in the stone beneath their feet were three children: a little girl, a little boy, and another little boy between them who had devil horns, angel wings, and talons on his toes.

The pale woman took note of the boy in the middle, a deep sigh releasing from her nose, and then looked to the boy to her right, her eyebrows cocked in an arrow. She shrugged it off, well knowing she was only wasting her time staring at the lifeless marble. To the statue's right was the door leading to the war room, windows surrounding the table with candlesticks hanging above. She made her way across the table but did not sit in her seat. Rather she continued towards one of the windows and stared out at the broken moon. That night, when the moon shattered and her world, along with Remnant, had been irreversibly altered forever. This train of thought led to recalling when she altered a certain other person's world forever.

"I can save you…I can grant you the power you wish…I can help you achieve your rightful destiny." Those words, one of the first she'd ever said to Cinder, were the same she'd said to Watts, Tyrian, Hazel, and all the others who'd come before for millennia. Was any of this worth it anymore? Yes! Ozpin was the embodiment of everything Salem found wrong with humanity, and no force on the planet could change her mind. Though, she still couldn't stop thinking of Cinder, another subordinate fallen in the crusade to uncover the truth.

"Cinder…" She thought. "…is this my fault?" Her head bent down, blood forming around her tear ducts. The mere image of Cinder brought back memories to Salem, so much so that she reached into her dress for something that she carried everyday. Peeking behind herself to make certain she was alone, Salem pulled out a locket about the size of her palm. Once she clicked the button, two pictures inside revealed Salem in a much different appearance: she was smiling, truly heartfelt, and her hair was down with long locks reaching past her breasts. In one picture, a man with the same eyes, hair, face veins, and skin was next to her but giving the same heartful smile. In the other picture, they sat next to one another with a little girl, same skin and eyes as the adults above her, sitting on Salem's lap.

"So much time has passed…this is the first time in more than a decade that I've opened this locket." The woman looked up to the sky. "Cinder…you were the one to finally put a dent in Ozpin's reputation, only to be piled onto his mountain of corpses…I will not let any of your progress be wasted."

Smog covered the sky, blooming in dark clouds that floated into the atmosphere. The streets were mobbed with people, all were wearing just casual clothes, yet everything felt dead. Cars filled the streets with a subway screaming above a strip of brownstone houses and further into the heart of the city until it reached its next stop only to scream again once its passengers boarded. A good chunk of the entire city was far away, working within the refinery or mine that belonged to the Schnee Dust company at the base of the mountain. As a result, a new face in this city was like a lit match in a dark room, and Lucy new full well who the lit match riding behind her was.

Once crossing a cobblestone bridge into the suburban neighborhood in the west, Cinder looked around at all the shops and people on the sidewalks. Kids were walking with their parents, couples walking hand-in-hand, teenagers simply wandering with earbuds blaring music in their ears; this city wasn't as charismatic as Vale, but it felt more laid back.

A confusing question then popped in Cinder's mind. "Hey, what gives? I thought this place was full of criminals and villains, so why does everyone look so peaceful?"

Lucy snickered. "Well, sorry if we don't have those fancy bad guys with top hats who twirl their moustaches." Cinder became annoyed by that comment, but Lucy continued. "Don't get the wrong idea, this city's home to a few gangs, looters and bandits come in all the time to start trouble, and the cops are usually too lazy to do anything outside of major emergencies." That last part struck a chord in Cinder's heart. Calling out for help and have no one answer. "Despite all that, Fegefeuer's almost like a sanctuary for most of the people living here, men and women who felt like outcasts or wanted to escape their pasts. The dust mine and refinery hire basically anyone willing to do the blue-collar work and we have farms in the southeast that sell their stuff cheaper than the food markets. For us, this whole place is basically a second chance." Usually, Cinder would brush a monologue like this off, but she felt rather intrigued by what Lucy was saying.

Twenty minutes passed before the bike came to a stop at an old boarding house, stores and other apartments neighboring the old building. The outside of the building, save for the shining windows, looked old and run down as if it were built decades ago. Even the stoop had a design that looked foreign to modern tastes. Still not trusting Lucy entirely, Cinder was determined to keep her grimm hand in her sweatshirt pocket. How long could she keep the secret hidden? Only time would tell.

"Welcome to 'chateau de Crap-hole'!" Lucy said, opening the door to its fullest extent and almost knocking the landlord over. He looked to be in his early sixties and wore brown pants, a white polo shirt, and brown dress shoes.

"Dammit, Lucy. You trynna kill me?!" He shouted at her.

"That depends, is rent due today?" Lucy joked, even laughing at her own joke and lightly elbowing Cinder who only appeared annoyed by the performance.

The two women traveled through the first-floor hallway, up one flight of stairs to the next floor, and down the hallway to a door labeled "9 – Lucy" with the number in gold and her name on a strand of scotch tape. Lucy pulled a keychain out of her shorts and used a gold one to unlock the front door. Upon opening, Cinder's first impression came from the smell of socks and pizza. As the door opened all the way, she realized it was true that "the nose knows". They entered into the living room which had a couch to the left, carpeting, a window opposite the door, and a flat screen against a wall that separated the room from the kitchen. The wall, for reasons Cinder didn't want to find out about, had claw marks and beer stains. The couch and carpet, as well, had stains that smelled of either food or alcohol. Speaking of which, the table next to the couch had two pizza boxes stacked on top of each other with beer bottles sitting on top. Underneath the TV was a game console with four controllers and dozens of M-rated games.

Cinder cringed just being in this place, fearful of what the bathroom, bedroom, and the inside of the fridge looked like. As they continued through and the smells getting stronger, to which Cinder was now feeling nauseous, Lucy pulled out a blanket from under the couch. Of course, it had stains as well.

"So, I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you've got nowhere to sleep, no friends to call, no food to eat, and no deodorant…" Lucy said, extending a finger with each phrase and Cinder feeling depressed now that the whole picture's plain to see. She shook her head, her face pointed at Lucy's boots. "Tch-hahahaha, don't sweat it. You can stick around here for tonight if you want."

Cinder's head rose and her eye opened wider. "…why are you helping me?"

There was a moment of silence before Lucy interrupted it by smacking her own forehead. "OH! I'm so stupid. How'd I forget that part?" She said, sounding almost like she was just waiting for Cinder to ask the obvious question. "Well, I can't help it. You looked cool as hell on the mountain, killing grimm left and right, levitating and shooting fire everywhere! Hell, I was just waiting for you to kick the bucket, but you kept surviving and I got bored waiting, so I thought, 'Maybe I can make a friend.'"

"'Surviving'?" Cinder questioned in her mind. "'got bored waiting', '…a friend…'?"

Cinder stepped up to Lucy's face. "Who says we're friends? I didn't ask for your help back there. I could've taken out all those grimm on my own."

Lucy didn't move. Her face went from happy to puzzled, trying to find the correct response.

"What do you want, then? I welcomed you into the place you were looking for, so if I'm not your friend then why did you come with me? Why are you still here?" Lucy's words cut deep, Cinder unaware of what to even say next.

Without a word, Cinder turned around and headed for the door. Expecting to leave without a problem, she was proven wrong when she felt Lucy's hand tightly grab her shoulder.

"Ah, come on! Don't be like that!" Lucy shouted as charismatically as she could. "Dude, it's cool. Buuuuuuuut, if you're interested, how 'bout we spend the day playing on my game console and later tonight, I'll introduce you to some of my friends?"

Cinder stood there, wanting to say yes but not recalling any desire to make friends on her way to the city. "Seriously, cut the lone wolf crap. This town's full of people with shady backgrounds. What've you got to lose?"

Lucy's insensitive personality was starting to grow on Cinder. Finding no reason to object, Lucy fired up the game console, until a reason to object finally came to her: her grimm hand.

"You okay? You look worried." Lucy said.

"Uh, yeah. Just…I kinda have a scar on my left hand, so I'm not that comfortable playing games."

"Oh damn…that related to why you wear that other glove?"

"Uh, yeah! Used to have a matching pair, then I lost the other one. You can play and I'll wa-"

"Oh don't worry about it. I'll be right back."

Lucy got up and came back from a room in apartment's hallway. In her hand was a white gardening glove.

"I don't ever use it. My brother works at an orphanage and he begged me to come with. It was garden day, so he made me go out and buy this pair just so I could play in the dirt with the kids."

An odd feeling surged through Cinder, an emotion she hadn't felt in years: appreciation. She turned around so Lucy wouldn't see her put the glove on, grabbed the controller, and the two began to play. First was a racing game starring plumbers, dragons, monkeys, and princesses. The second was a generic shooter game whose multiplayer was populated mostly by kids. The third and last was a game with seven in the title and featured a teenager wielding a giant sword. All the while, Lucy was the one cracking jokes and trying to get a laugh out of Cinder, but the most she got were scarce amounts of smiles.

Before either of them knew it, the time was already 8:00 PM. Once Lucy discovered the time, she turned off the game console and went into her room. By herself in the living room, Cinder took another look around and, despite nothing changing in the past several hours, somehow felt unphased. Nothing, not even the smell from the food and alcohol stains, bothered her. She sat back down and put both her hands in her sweatshirt pocket and just realized she still had her Ten minutes had passed and Lucy finally stepped out of her room, through the hallway, and into the living room, to which Cinder's eye opened in shock.

The albino wore a white, strapless dress that cut off at the thighs. Her high heels were also white and had a flowery design on the straps above the toes and ankles. The only odd choice was a pair of sunglasses, the dark lenses standing out among the rest of her hair and outfit.

Cinder was dumbfounded, but her response was all that was necessary to say. "Wow!"

"Awww, baby. You're too sweet." Lucy playfully replied.

Cinder immediately became frustrated. "NO, YOU DITZ! It's just…I never thought I'd see you…wearing anything like this. I just thought…your style was always like…uh-"

"Crack whore?" Lucy interrupted.

"…I was gonna trap queen." Cinder continued.

"Or a bum?"

"Or a drifter."

"Or, Heaven forbid…a hipster?!"

There was a moment of silence before Lucy busted out laughing and Cinder formed an innocent smile.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to work right now. I gotta help set up, but you can stop by around ten. That's when we'll start our performance."

Cinder felt confused by the last statement. "Er…'performance'?"

"Yeah. I sing at this club every Friday and Saturday night, and my two brothers play drums and guitar, while everyone eats and drinks." Lucy answered, Cinder still surprised by the news and just now remembering today was Saturday. "Hey, it's either this or work in that smelly refinery every day. Plus, I work as a waitress during the week, including Friday, so money's never an issue."

Lucy left the door key on the kitchen countertop above the TV for Cinder to use later.

"The club's on Austin Blvd. It's got a big LED sign outside that says "Junior's Club" above the doors. Just keep going down this road and go left on the boulevard. You can't miss it."

With that said, Lucy waved goodbye and made her way out. Cinder just sat there, on the couch, with no one to talk to. Those words Lucy spoke "Maybe I can make a friend" just kept repeating in the maiden's mind. Did she finally have a friend? Mercury and Emerald came to mind, but were they "friends", despite her referring to them as disciples? Even when they fought against Amber, the previous fall maiden, together? No. She remembered how the two of them were on the ground and Amber had her back turned toward Cinder and she took advantage of the opportunity. Mercury and Emerald's safety didn't even come to mind at that moment.

Her constant thinking of them went on for two hours before she realized she only had fifteen more minutes to make Lucy's performance. If this was a club, could she get in with her current outfit? She also just realized she still had no shoes. Without any care, Cinder snuck into Lucy's room, praying it didn't somehow smell worse than the living room. Upon entering her door, besides realizing her fears were correct, she notices Lucy's pair of tennis shoes and slipped them on. Coincidentally, they fit her perfectly. She left the room and pulled her glass high heels out of her sweatshirt pocket and left them by the couch, followed by her heading out the door, the key in her pocket.

Following Lucy's directions, Cinder found herself outside of a large building which had "Junior's club" in the LED sign above. Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu came over her. The sound of alternative rock music bled through the glass doors, so she looked through and was glad to see everyone inside wore normal clothing, not too different from her sweatshirt and jean shorts. She opened the door and full force of the volume hit her, along with the full view of the place.

The inside looked like a packed restaurant. People everywhere, mostly adults, sitting at tables or booths or just on a stool at the bar. In the center was Lucy, sitting on a stool and singing into a microphone held in its stand. She was playing bass guitar and behind her were two men on electric guitar and drums. They both looked very similar, most likely twins, except the drummer had a fade and an average build while the guitarist had hair that reached past his jawline and wore a t-shirt that exposed his massive arms. As they played their hearts out to the hardcore beat, Cinder's line of sight was broken when a girl with neck-length hair and wearing a red dress walked by, a tray of food in hand. She looked oddly familiar, but Cinder couldn't figure it out. Then she looked to her left and found the bar, another girl in a white dress but long black hair who had the same face as the one in the red dress. She sat back with her elbows against the bar, observing the band, and behind the bar was the bartender, a man with black hair that connected to his beard and moustache.

The applause of the audience caught Cinder's attention, followed by Lucy thanking everyone for coming out to hear them and that they'd take a quick intermission. The albino walked off the stage, the two men following her after they all laid their instruments down, and approached Cinder. Upon walking towards her, Lucy sat at a table with high chairs and waved at Cinder to sit with them, and so she did, feeling neither shyness nor excitement. She was just curious to what would happen next.

"Well, I guess we're a sight for…a sore eye!" Lucy joked, something that didn't amuse Cinder.

The amber eyed woman took note of the men before her. It was true, they were twins, and quite handsome. The one with a fade had a bit of a cynical look to him, reminding her of Lucy. His laugh even sounded like hers. The other one, despite looking as built as a body builder, just wore an awkward smile from hearing that joke. It was almost like he cared about making a good first impression, something Cinder didn't expect from a sibling of Lucy's.

"Anyway, Cinder, these are my younger brothers. This hipster-looking dumbass is Michael…"

"Pleased to meet ya', darlin'." Michael said, extending his hand to shake hers.

"And this big lug is my youngest brother, Gabriel."

Cinder extended her hand to the man, his own hand large enough to completely cover hers. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Lucy's said a lot of good things about you."

Cinder looked back at Lucy, who just gave a kitty smile and tried to look innocent. She looked back at Gabriel, his face and name seeming familiar to her, yet just couldn't put her finger on it.

Goddamn, did this feel like forever. Hopefully you guys like this so far, and hopefully volume 6 of RWBY will focus on fleshing out and developing the villains. My personal theory is going to be mixed in with this story, mostly making Salem out to be more tragic than what we've been led to believe.

Anyway, I'm exhausted and am going to bed (gotta be up at 6 to go to work).

Please rate, favorite, follow, and review. I'm always open to learning and to improve.