Warning: Torture session. I'm not going into incredible details with it, I'm just making a point. Skip to A/N if you don't think you can stomach this chapter. I'll be doing a brief summary of the chapter for you. I got your back. I only write this to make a point, really. It's not like I enjoy masochistic and/or sadistic behavior. I just want to show you how evil Cinder is and how strong Corinthe is.

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Chapter 5: A Foreboding Feeling

Warning: Beginning of torture

Unknown Location: Corinthe

I'm blindfolded, sitting in a metal chair that really hurts my butt. A continuous clicking echoes around my surroundings. The clicking stops, and I feel a hand trail down my cheek to my neck. A breath in my ear makes me lean away from the source.

"You are a very stubborn nut to crack, my dear." That soothing, yet sinister, voice whispers into my ear.

"What do you want, Cinder?" I slowly start to lose my tentatively held calm.

A sharp burning slides down my arm. "Isn't it obvious, Corinthe? I want your pain, your screams, your submission."

I hold in my scream. "I'll never submit. Not to you, not to the White Fang, and definitely not for you revolution."

"Shame." The burning intensifies, spreading across my arm painfully. "I will pull a scream out of you." The clicking starts up again, moving away from me this time.

I hear someone snap their fingers, apparently signaling for more people. I hear a roaring sound coming toward me. Suddenly, my blindfold is swiped away, exposing me to a blinding light. I blink to dispel the colored spots that dot my vision. I open my eyes, fully adjusted to the light, to see Cinder and two White Fang acolytes standing beside a cart piled with scary looking tools.

"I'll do you a favor, little traitor." She smile widens with threateningly. "I'll let you keep your pretty face."

I breathe in sharply, wincing at the sound of knives running over a sharpener. I brace myself, flaring the little Aura I have left to stave off the impending pain. I look as the lackey brings the knife down, the blade piercing through my Aura as if it wasn't there at all. I gasp at the stinging sensation as he slowly drags the tip down my arm, drawing a trickle of blood to the surface. The cut ends after about five inches, not even going deep, but the blood was slowly leaking out, running down my arm to drip on the floor.

"That barely got a reaction. Go deeper." The acolyte nods at Cinder before trailing the knife down my arm again, but much deeper this time. I bite my lip, tasting the tangy, metallic taste of blood hit my tongue. I swallow my scream, trying not to give Cinder the satisfaction of breaking me. The man keeps going, making several more deep cuts. Blood leaks down, pooling on the floor around my chair.

Cinder smiles at her handy work. She turns toward the lackies. "Upgrade. I see we'll have to take this up a notch." She walks up to me, extends her forefinger, and runs the glowing digit up my arm, cauterizing two cuts. After she finishes, she takes her finger and licks the blood off.

"Gross." I eye her in disgust.

She looks at me with malice. She wags her forefinger side to side, like you would to a naughty child. "You do not question those better than you." She grabs a taser from the cart and presses it against my thigh. She gives me a sneer as she pulls the trigger. The sensation is unlike anything I've ever felt before. It feels like two metal toothpicks are jammed into my flesh, followed by the skin and muscle around them melting. The pain is almost unbearable. I'm at the precipice of darkness when the pain disappears except for a few lingering numbing pulses through my body.

I blink past the darkness to see a proud smirk gracing the lips of my captor. "I knew I would get those delicious screams from you sooner or later. I just expected them to come later." She places the taser on the cart and picks up a glowing red knife. "Now, I want you to break. I want to know all of the information you've given the enemy, my little traitor." She runs the flat of the blade down my cheek and neck, stopping at my collar bone. She gives me a small smile with a mad gleam in her eyes. "You will submit."

She rips open my shirt, baring my bra clad chest. Slowly, excruciatingly, she slips the blade down my stomach. The glowing makes sense, then. The blade's imbued with red dust, making the wound inflicted much more painful while cauterizing the cut at the same time. That one swipe of the blade stretches the entire length of my abdomen horizontally. The burning pain makes me scream against my will, giving Cinder exactly what she wants.

"If I'd known that that was all I'd needed to make you sing, I would have started with it." She pouts as she runs the blade down my thigh, tearing my skirt and burrowing into my skin. The same agonizing pain rips through me as the dust infused steel tears my flesh and sears the wound closed. My screams echo in the small room, making the two lackies force their animal ears down on their heads to block out the majority of the noise. "Are you ready to submit?"

I grit my teeth against the suffering she's forcing me to endure. "Never, you heartless bitch."

"Now, now. Don't you know that it's bad to insult the person that's torturing you?" Her voice was so sickly sweet that I gag.

"Go to hell, you monster." I gather the strength to spit the blood pooling in my mouth at her.

She wipes it off as if it was nothing. "Then, shall I bring out my last resort?"

I cringe at the thought of what her last resort could be. "I will never break." My resolve is slowly thinning, but the fact that I have people to protect helps.

"Then you won't mind this at all." Her tone takes on that sweet tone again, like she was giving me candy instead of treading gashes across my skin. She picks up a small blade, about two inches lang. It's almost needle-like in style. "This, my little informant, is a blade dipped in an acid-like poison." She walks back to me and unties my hands. With the tiny blade in hand, she grabs my hand, extends my middle finger, and pricks it just below the skin. He thumb glows and she presses it to my finger, burning over the little hole she made, making it where I can't drain the poison out. A small tingling begins to trickle up my arm, soon developing into a burning. Eventually, my body feels like it's on fire. I writhe in pain, know there's nothing I can do about it. I clamp my lips and teeth shut to keep from spewing everything just to make it stop. A scream comes up my throat, unable to escape fully. A darkness begins to envelope my vision, pulling me from the pain. I relinquish to the sweet relief of unconsciousness.

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Good news!: Torture session ended

Soon After: Cinder

"I am so disappointed. I thought that all of this would have made her crack!" I pace back and forth, my heels clacking on the floor with each step. I stop abruptly when an acolyte usts into the room.

He bows his head slightly, taking in big gulps of breath. "Ma'am, you have a message. It's from, and this is their description not mine, the man who pays for all things. It says that you are to meet with him at the last place you saw each other." THe man bows and runs away.

I clench my fists in anger. "I can't believe this! He dares page me here?!" I stroll out of the room, furious. Those in the hall shy away from me in fear. I rarely lose my temper completely, but today, I've had enough. A lone woman passing through the exit holds the door for me, bowing her head in subservience.

As soon as I get to my office, I walk over to my desk and pull out my communications system. The far wall lights up and shows the transmission of the call. A face appears on the screen. "Yes, Schnee Dust Headquarters, how may I be of service?"

I put on my most deceptive of faces. "Yes, I have a meeting scheduled with Mister Schnee. Could I possibly discuss this with him now?"

The woman on the screen looks down and a slight clacking echoes through the speakers. "No,ma'am. It seems that Mister Schnee has requested that he not be disturbed. I'm sorry, but you'll have to try at another time. Goodbye." The call ends and the wall goes black.

I pick up the remote that activates the communications system, and it begins to melt. The plastic and metal trickles through my fingers slowly. "I can't believe this! Now, I have to fly all the way to Atlas by tomorrow." I sit in my chair and shake off the little bit of debris from my hand. Running my fingers carefully through my hair, I think of what I'm going to do. "Godsdamnit! And I have that undercover mission, too. I hate that fucking bastard!" I shoot up in indignation. "He has no right to summon me for his own fucking reasons! I'm not even on his payroll at the moment." I smooth my dress down, making sure there are no wrinkles before adopting my intimidating persona once again. I fling the door open. "Schedule a flight to Atlas tonight!" The people around me scramble to get it done. I turn and close the door to my office and sit down once more. "What could that man want?"

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On the Airship: Jack

"Why do I have this foreboding sense of doom hanging above me?" Jack turns to Zamin, pondering this question.

Zamin puts his finger to his chin in thought. "Well, we are Hunters, bro. Don't we always feel like this?"

I shake my head. "No, this is new. It's like I'm in pain, but my body isn't interpreting it that way."

Zamin shrugs. "It could be that you're hungry?"

I scoff. "No, that's definitely not it. I'd know if I was hungry, Zamin."

"Just ignore it for now. But if it becomes stronger, tell me. It could mean someone close to you is in danger." With that, Zamin walks out of the room, leaving me with a fanatic Winter. She's bowed over the table, staring at map after map, trying to discover the location of the mines.

Suddenly, ice starts to creep across the table, starting where her hands are placed. "I don't understand! They should be so easy to find! I mean, how do they hide thousands of Faunus slaves? Better yet, how do they drown out the noise all of the equipment will make!?"

I walk over to her, putting a careful distance between us so as not to become an icicle. "You don't know that they are hiding. It could be that the people of Mistral really believe that there are SDC mines there but not know that they're illegal. Did you think about that?"

Winter looks up at me in awe. Her hands go to her head in realization. "Of course! If you didn't already have a mate, I'd kiss you!" She spins around and races out of the conference room.

My brow furrows in both amusement and bewilderment. 'How did she know?' I shake my head. 'Wait, I don't have a mate. I refuse to submit to my baser desires!'

I look around the room, tracing the numerous yarn lines tacked to the wall. So many connections, so little time to explore them. I shake my head again, dispelling the exhaustion that continues to creep up on me. "It is rather late. I should get some sleep." With that, I leave the room behind and seek out the comfort of my bed. I pass Ravena's room on the way to mine. Two heart beats resonate from the room. I smile, knowing that the two girls had fallen asleep together. Zamin's room is on the other side of mine. I hear counting from him. 'He must be doing his nightly routine.' I eye my door and turn the knob. I sigh as I walk in and prepare for bed. My final thoughts before succumbing to sleep are of the lion Faunus and Winter. 'I hope they're both okay.'

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A/N: I did promise a summary of the torture session. It only lasted, like, three pages. But, here it is. Ok, Cinder wanted to know what Cori told Team JARZ and Winter, but she wouldn't. Cinder is freakin' sadistic booger. She used knives, poison, and her semblance to try to get Corinthe to crack, but nothing worked. Corinthe did give Cinder the satisfaction of her screams, but she didn't say a word about her status as a double agent or passing information to outsiders. Isn't she so brave and strong? Welp, that's a wrap up, guys. Favorite, follow, review! *waves to all my readers*