A/N: I'm not actually dead! The holiday just ended up being more hectic than I imagined, and I've not had the time to work on anything for a good long while. I'm also moving to a new school, which will undoubtedly make the writing process... a little more difficult. I'll be able to put out chapters, but merely not too many.

In the mean time, take this little snippet!

Cinder sat in her dorm room, giving herself a manicure and waiting for a cue to finally do something. She'd been sat there doing nothing pretty much all day - Emerald and Mercury had told her it would be better this way.

She'd protested, even tried her usual intimidation tactics, but even that wouldn't sway them a bit.

So what if she had a better figure than most supermodels, a voice like melting honey in one's ears and a tendency to monologue for a long time to put it to good use? That didn't mean she'd stick out like a sore thumb!

Okay, maybe not, but surely she couldn't blow their covers… Immediately…

She sighed as the mental debate ran through her skull for maybe the seven hundredth time. She would be staying here until the moment anything important that those two would inevitably fail at came along.

In her room. Alone. With her fingernails for her only company.

Waiting for a cue to finally do something.

The miraculous sound of knocking at her door signalled that her cue had at last arrived.

She tore over to the door faster than the image she projected would normally allow, and slammed the door open loud enough for the sound to echo through the hallways.

"You two certainly have -"

… Her sentence trailed off as she realised she wasn't staring at her subordinate's faces, but instead at a girl's nape.

"U-um, hello!" a voice called from annoyingly far above her head.

Her eyes trailed up until she was staring at the girl in the face.

"... Hello there." she replied calmly, her face quickly adjusting itself to her default grin, "Pyrrha Nikos, correct?"

The girl's emerald eyes promptly darted away, as she shyly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Th-that's me!"

Cinder's eyes narrowed. She had exhausted the majority of her patience waiting for Emerald and Mercury, so she had very little to spare. She wasn't sure if it would be enough to humour a pompous celebrity.

… Well, it couldn't be worse than going back to tending to her fingernails.

"So," Cinder began, "What brings the Invincible Girl to little old me?"

Pyrrha then immediately began to tap her forefingers together nervously.

"Well… I - um - can we talk about this inside?"

Cinder's eyebrow was quick to dart up her forehead in response. The champion wanted to enter her dormitory? To talk about something private?

This was bizarre, to say the least - no, calling it bizarre was an understatement. Could this be some sort of trap? Was this girl sent by Ozpin? Was she, perhaps, one of his agents?

Cinder took a look at the girl once more. All that nervousness could merely be an act to make her let her guard down. Cinder Fall would not squander her chances just to stave off a little boredom.

"... I'd rather not, thank you." Cinder replied, pushing the door shut on her sudden guest.

With a click, Cinder prepared herself to return once more to silence, and her overly manicured fingernails, only to be interrupted from the champion's voice nervously creeping in her room through the closed doorway.

"... It's… I - I need to talk about boys. I thought you might be able to help me with it."

One of her mistress's very first lessons flashed through her mind. One of the most important promises she had ever sworn to uphold.

"Listen, girl. If you ever find yourself met with a sister in need, you help them. No matter the circumstances. Even if it's the Wizard in a girl's body, a silver-eyed warrior, or a Maiden you're only minutes away from killing."

The door was open faster than the green-eyed gladiator could so much as blink.

"You should have said so in the first place, Pyrrha." Cinder purred, dragging Pyrrha into her dorm by the wrist.

The girl blinked in surprise at the sudden show of hospitality. Before she could make any move to gain her bearings, however, she was already sat at the bedside while her host began to set some tea on the kettle.

Mere seconds later, Cinder was already beginning to paint the girl's nails.

"So, you desire help with men?"

"U-um," the girl's voice was breathless, and sounded somewhat shell-shocked, "Well, um, just - just a man, actually…"

How curious… Mistral's famed Invincible Girl had a crush. A weakness. A flaw she could exploit. The information was locked securely away in the "Evil" folder of Cinder's brain for later.

For now, however, it would go entirely ignored.

"Oh, do tell." she cooed.

The girl chuckled nervously.

"H-he's, um, my team leader. His name's Jaune Arc, you - you might have seen him in combat class."

Cinder had. She wished she hadn't.

"No!" Cinder gasped, hands cupped to her cheeks, "Really?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Why would a girl like you need help with someone like him? I'd have thought the slightest show of interest would have him all over you."

The champion let out a shaky breath, and her shoulders sagged.

"I… I wish it were that simple, Miss Fall -"

"Please, call me Cindy." she interrupted.

"C-Cindy." she corrected hastily, "You see, there's this other girl he's interested in, and n-no matter what I d-do, I can't get him to notice me!"

There was another girl the boy was interested in? How bizarre. A single glance at the scarlet-haired girl was enough to tell that her beauty was virtually unparalleled. Well, except for Cinder herself, of course, but -

Wait.

Oh gods, what if it was her the boy had a crush on!? That would be awkward.

Cinder's legs shifted nervously.

"This other girl…" she asked tentatively, "Who is she?"

"Weiss Schnee."

Oh… How anticlimactic.

Cinder sighed, and placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I suppose there is no accounting for poor taste," Cinder mumbled, before turning to meet the champion face-to-face, "Look, Pyrrha, if he's so dead-set on this… Schnee girl, I'd say he's simply not worth your time. Just give up on him."

"That's just it. I can't," the red-haired girl clutched her knees and began to fix her eyes on the floor intently. "Jaune - Jaune was the first person in my entire life who saw me for who I was. When we first met… When we first met, he didn't even know my name, let alone my title! The very thing that defined me in the eyes of practically everyone I've ever met just - just didn't matter to him! And… And… More than that…"

"More than that?"

"He's sweet, kind, genuine, and," she had to stifle a chuckle mid sentence, "Something of a klutz, and every time I'm around him it makes me feel all the happier for it."

Cinder smirked.

"Oh dear, Nikos… It seems you've been struck by the most insidious evil of all."

The girl quickly looked up, panic visible in her emerald eyes.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"A monster that can cripple even the strongest huntsmen and huntresses faster than any Grimm horde."

"Wh - wha…?"

Cinder cut her off with a quick tap to the nose.

"You, Pyrrha Nikos, have become an unfortunate victim of love."

Pyrrha let the comment sink in for a moment, before letting out a weak laugh.

"I… I have, haven't I?" her head hung low, and Cinder could see the faint glint of tears on her cheek.

She then placed her head in her hands.

"I'm in love with him, and all I can do is sit and watch as he pines after someone else." she whispered, "Goodness, I'm so pathetic…"

Her palms were slapped away from her wet cheeks before she could reduce herself to even more pitiful a state. Cinder would die before she let this girl wallow in her own misery - literally, if Salem ever caught wind of it.

Everything Salem had ever taught her about manipulating others flashed through her mind in an instant.

"Lesson One," Cinder began, lifting the champion's chin up from underneath, "Rule through fear. Intimidation is the key to making other people do what you desire. Make the boy regret every time he so much as thinks about the Schnee girl in your presence."

"I don't know if I could -"

"Lesson Two: Accept no compromises. What he wants does not matter. If he doesn't want to do something, change that - show him why what you want is the better alternative. The Schnee girl isn't worth his time. You are in control."

"I'm not sure that -"

"Lesson Three: Reward loyalty. Whenever this boy does what you want, show him exactly what he was doing this all for. Remind him what he gets for being in your company."

"H-how…?"

That was… A good question. As much as she hated to admit it, Cinder wasn't exactly sure what to say. Normally, she'd reward her followers with vast sums of money, or they'd follow her simply out of a desire to indulge themselves in the bloodshed along the way.

Or they could be like Emerald and follow her because…

Because…

… Reasons…?

She glanced back to Pyrrha, who was now looking at her almost like a wistful puppy. Blast. She had to think of something to say, and quickly.

"... Get naked."

Pyrrha's face immediately went roughly the same colour as her hair.

That meant her answer was good enough. Definitely.

"I - I understand."

It took a few moments until Cinder realised that the girl wasn't smiling. Had… Had she done the unthinkable and said something wrong?

"Is something the matter, Pyrrha?"

The girl bit her lip.

"Well, it's just that… It's just that, all these lessons about disregarding what other people want… Isn't that - well - morally questionable?"

Cinder chuckled.

"That's not important, Pyrrha."

"Is-isn't it?"

"Of course not - look at how much pain he's put you through, Pyrrha… Breaking a few moral codes is nothing compared to the sadness you carry with you now."

"That's - that's…"

"That's?"

"True…" she finished, voice laced with slight disbelief, "But - but I'm just not sure if I can do this, Cindy. I don't know if I could bring myself to -"

Cinder pulled the girl close, smiling softly.

"What did you think when you first saw Arc pay attention to Weiss Schnee instead of you?"

"That… That she'd severed our connection before it was complete."

"That's right…" she cooed, beginning to stroke the girl's hair, "Now, tell me. How does it feel whenever that Arc boy looks at the Schnee, Pyrrha?"

The champion hesitated for a moment.

"It's…" she seemed lost for a moment, searching for the words, "It's… An emptiness. It burns. Like hunger."

"That's right, Pyrrha. And knowing that, I don't think you can live with it for a moment longer."

"Yes…" she replied, eyes glazed over and lip slightly parted.

"Then go, Pyrrha. Go to the Arc boy and let him know exactly how you feel. Whether he likes it or not. Say it to me - you will claim what is yours."

"I will claim what is mine." she said, resolve at last appearing in her confused eyes.

She smiled, just as she began to exit the room, and turned to Cinder.

"... Thank you." she said.

Cinder's grin spread just a little further across her cheeks as the champion disappeared into the hallways of Beacon.

You go, girl.

*X*

Jaune Arc was feeling pretty good about himself. His best buddy, Ren, had just helped him work out all of his problems - and he had now realised the error of his ways.

It was time to go and apologise to Weiss, and tell her how he really felt.

He closed his eyes, and then dreamily imagined an infinite whirlpool of possible responses, from images to her blushing to the phrase "It's not like I want to go to the dance with you or anything, st-stupid!"

Truly, this would be a night to remember.

He carried that thought in his head even as it smacked straight into the floor when he crashed into something in front of him.

He got up, trying to shake the fuzz of delirium from his skull, before he felt a pair of hands land on his shoulders. He then felt these hands gripping him like a vice.

Cardin…? Hadn't he finally backed off?

The image before him came a little more into focus.

"P-Pyrrha!?"

His partner smiled, her eyes mildly lidded.

"That's right, Jaune. It's me." she purred.

She then promptly draped both of her arms around his neck, brushing her cheeks against his and whispering straight into his ear, her warm breath tickling his skin.

"Now, wherever were you running off to?"

Jaune raised his eyebrows in surprise. Wasn't Pyrrha just… Not normally like this? Was something up with her?

"Uh, Pyrrha, what's this abou -"

His entire body jolted as she squeezed just a little tighter.

"I asked you a question, Jaune…" she murmured, tone the same even as she seemed to be crushing the wind out of him in a fashion he'd expect more from Nora. "I expect an answer."

"I was j-just running off to confess to Weiss."

Her lips the curled… In distaste?

Something was wrong. Pyrrha's face didn't make expressions like that, right?

"I… See." she mumbled, "Listen, Jaune, that girl… She isn't good for you. She's cold and uptight. She doesn't care about you - to her, you're nothing but a backdrop. A minor irritation."

"Well, maybe I c-c-could change that -"

Pyrrha then cut him off with a laugh.

"Why bother, Jaune…"

Jaune swallowed as he realised his partner's hand was trailing up his thigh.

"... When you could have someone who already cares about you? Someone who understands you better than she ever will? Someone who loves you for who you are? Someone…"

Her forehead drew closer to his, and before long the halls and lights of Beacon vanished, replaced with only a pair of glittering, emerald eyes.

"... Like me."

"P-Pyrrha," he stuttered, terror slowly mounting, "Why - why are you doing this?"

"Because, Jaune," she cooed, "I want you to go with me to the dance."

"Y-you do!?"

"That's right. And I'm not giving you a choice."

Jaune's head told him he should've been terrified. The lower half of his body objected with passion.

"I -" his voice seized in his throat, "I - I get it."

Pyrrha then smiled, and, unlike the rest of her smiles, that either reassured him or made him laugh…

This one made him shiver.

"Good boy…"

*X*

Cinder smirked to herself as she listened to the neighbouring dorm's bed sustain a rather intense beating. Mercury and Emerald may have been clasping their pillows over their ears as if their worthless lives depended on it, but the loud slapping and creaking only brought her more joy. Every moan or whimper filled her with pride.

Another happy customer, she thought, turning over in her bed and turning out the lights.