Cinder sat on the subway taking her to downtown Vale. She was visiting a friend called Paul Bunoun. Or Mr. Beige, as his friends called him. He was an old Atlesian soldier who had surveyed the king of Atlas at the beginning of the war. Eventually, he had refused an order from his general and been banished from the kingdom as a result.
He had eventually found his way to Vale, where he got a job as a teacher at Signal academy. He might have reiterated long before Cinder had started classes, but Tai had kept in touch with the old man.
Cinder had come with Tai to the city while he prepared for Signal school year, but she had two months to wait! If it was for Mr. Beige, she would have gone insane. His stories of his adventures during the war were some of the most amazing one she had heard. As a result, she had been visiting him for the past month and a half.
And she was even more excited because this time she was coming with company.
Yang sat next to her. She had been in Vale to see Signal academy personally. Summer wanted her to get a feel for it as she'd be attending in less than two years. She was holding a gift she had brought for the older man, some of Summer's recipe for home baked cookies.
Apparently, the old man had a sweet tooth and had even (as a joke.) started hitting on Summer after he had some of her home made sweets.
"You sure it's okay for me to come?" Yang asked. "I've only met him once and I was too young to remember." Cinder just smiled and messed up the younger girl's hair.
"I never met him until this year." She said reassuringly. "His nice, so don't worry. Besides, he won't shut up about you and Ruby. Apparently he's been dying to meet both of you now that you're old enough to actually have features." The two sisters laughed and began playfully bumped each other with their elbows. They couldn't get too rough in public as Cinder didn't want to be kicked out.
Suddenly, an announcement on a tv caught both girls' attention. "And now coming straight from Atlas, we bring you Jacques Schnee's statement on his own daughter's decision to join the Atlas Academy, live!"
The scene cut to a podium where the owner of the SDC stood with several microphones in front of him. They could hear the sounds of other reporters just off camera buzzing around trying to get the best angle.
Jacques cleared his throat before he started his speech.
"In the past few weeks since my wayward daughter made her reckless and quite frankly selfish decisions to leave the family to run off on some military fantasy. Since then, all anyone seems to talk about is how we're taking it." He spoke with that fake frustration Cinder had heard so often during her time in Atlas. And it made her sick.
"And I ask you, how would you feel knowing your daughter, your flesh and blood, ran off and abandoned you. All your history's gone just like that." He voice was filled with insincere pain as he snapped his fingers for emphasis.
"I can't imagine any worse thing for a parent to hear than their own daughter telling them that she wants nothing to do with them. It hurts worse than anything else I've endured during my long and different career! Even more than the unfair and inaccurate accusations about the working conditions for the Faunus. If I could give all my money away to get her back, I would do so in a heartbeat!" Jacques dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief, predicting to cry. Besides her, Yang made a vomiting motion causing Cinder to burst out laughing.
"But I've had time to think about it. And with much guilt and regret, I have no choice but to renounce Winter's status as heiress to the SDC." No sooner had he finished speaking, the reports began swarming forward, each one trying to drown out the other creating a cacophony of noise ensuring nobody could figure out what was said.
"As much as it pains me to do, with the increasing activity of the terrorist group Eternal Dynasty, I can't have an heiress who is running around fighting them, as well as the Grimm. Risking both her life and the entire SDC, which supplies more dust to the entire kingdom than any other supplier. As such, permit me to introduce the new heiress to the SDC. My second daughter, Weiss Schnee!"
Immediately, a small girl, who couldn't have been older than Yang, was pushed on stage and became the center of attention as she was almost completely blinded by camera flashes. As Cinder studied the girl's face, she saw her eyes looked slightly red. Had she been crying before the showcase?
"Yikes. That's the new heiress? Bet SDC goes under while I'm still in school." Yang said. "Do all people in Atlas have to name a successor? Why not give it to the most qualified instead?" Cinder just shook her head at the question.
"Old money." She explained. "A long time ago, unless you inherited your money, you were considered trash. That tradition has stayed alive in Atlas even after all these years." Cinder tired her attention back to the screen, scanning the girl's face closely once again. Then she smirked.
"And take a look at this." She said pointing to the new heiresses cheek. Yang squinted at her face, but all she saw was a ridiculous amount of blush.
Seeing she wasn't getting it, Cinder decided to explain to the girl. "The over did the makeup to hide something. My best guess, a bruise from where she underperformed and got punished as a result."
Yang turned to Cinder, her face showing her distress. "They treat their own children like that?" She asked breathlessly. "That's horrible! Mom and dad would never do something like that!" Cinder just rolled her eyes at Yang. She sometimes forgot that Yang didn't know Atlas like she did.
"A small price to pay for being born with a silver spoon in your mouth." She shrugged. "Remember, if Atlas wants to change, all they need to do is not treat their kids that way. And let's be honest here. The little heiress is going to a thousand dollar party after this. I think she'll be fine. Probably still giddy after her sister left leaving a spot for her to worm her way in."
Yang stopped to think, then nodded. "I think Uncle Qrow said something like that, but it's still hard to imagine. Can't believe people would keep something like that alive." Cinder was about to reply to remind her sister that people could be unbelievably cruel, but stopped herself. She had to remember Yang was still a kid and didn't understand Atlas was filled to the brim with nothing but scumbags and greedy worms. Well, there were a few good eggs, but most were that way.
"Yeah, well. It keeps them rich, so they aren't complaining." She said as the subway came to a stop. "Perfect timing! This is our stop. Let's go!" Cinder got to her feet and made her way out, followed closely by Yang.
The two walked through the dark streets. It was way past the time when most people were still up, even in this area, but as Yang was catching a flight tomorrow morning, they didn't have much of a choice. Cinder just hoped Mr. Beige was in when the arrived.
"So how did you convince dad to let me do this?" Yang asked. Cinder paused and scratched her head slightly, not sure how to answer.
"I- um- I might not have told him. At all." She said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
Yang raised an eyebrow. "So you're telling me that dad has no idea we're going to meet his old friend in the middle of the night by ourselves without calling in advance." Cinder nodded, a smile growing across her face. "Yup. That just about sums it up." She said as Yang's eyes narrowed.
"Oh don't worry." Cinder said reassuringly. "I'll just ask the old man not to tell dad and will be fine! I do this all the time and he never ratted me out yet. Besides, it's not like you have a lot of time. Hell, I didn't even have time to put Midnight away after training!" Cinder said, gesturing to the blades on her back.
When Yang continued to look somewhat troubled Cinder tried a different tactic.
"I know! How about next time I take you to a hot-spring I know that's just outside the city limits. I can assure you that they are the best in Vale! We'll bring mom, dad and Ruby too! It'll be a family visit!" Yang still didn't seem completely convinced, but she still followed her sister to the house that the old man lived in.
It was a single story place with a nice garden in the front, although all the vegetables had already been harvested. A lawn gnome was sitting at the entrance to greet people, as a light in the kitchen window cast a shadow on the curtains.
Without any hesitation, Cinder stepped forward and knocked loudly on the door several times. "He's hard of hearing." She explained to Yang, who had looked ready to stop her before the entire neighborhood.
There was a scuffling sound, then the door opened revealing an old man with long, graying white hair held back in a ponytail. He narrowed his eyes scanning for his visitor, but his face lit up as he saw Cinder standing there.
"Ahhh! Cinder! I should have known! Come in, come in! I have a nice pot of soup just about ready for my meal." He quickly gestured to the young girl inside. "And let me guess, you're Yang aren't you?" He said to the younger sibling.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you again Mr. Beige." She said nervously. The old man just smiled kindly at her.
"Pleasures mine! Now you should come in out of the cold! I'll give you some treats while we catch up!" He turned back inside and walked towards he kitchen.
"It's close to midnight. Why is he eating dinner?" Yang asked as Cinder rubbed the back of her head. "He liked to work graveyard shifts." Cinder explained. "After he retired, he said he'll go back to staying up at night and sleeping during the day. Just like the brothers intended. His words, not mine. And technically, this is his lunch."
The two siblings entered the house to see a cozy home with a stone fireplace in the center of the room. Off to either side was the kitchen and the bedroom, with a bathroom in the back. A table was set up in front of the fireplace and Yang saw several objects sitting on the mantelpiece with a huge huntsman axe hanging on the wall above them.
"What are those?" She asked Cinder, who chuckled in responses.
"His battle trophies." She said walking over to them. "He won one from each and every battle he fought in or every important meeting he's had. It's quite a collection with a story for each one." Yang walked over to stand by Cinder, staring up at the trophies, eyes shining.
"Well, Cinder will know each story if she keeps dropping by." Beige said as he came in with two more bowls and set them on the table. "I swear, she visits me more and more as her entry into Beacon gets closer. Must be the nerves acting up." He laughed pointedly as Cinder spun around blushing.
"I'm not nervous!" She protested. "I'm just bored waiting to leave! And you're stories are interesting. Like the time you saved the Grim Reaper when she was still relatively unknown. Or when you got to drive an ant-leviathan weapon!"
Mr. Beige laughed again as he walked over to the mantelpiece smiling. "Yes well, those are definitely stories that will be exciting! However, let me tell you about the most important one." He picked up a black and white picture of several people. Two adults and two kids. The adults consisted of a male and a female. As for the kids, they were both boys, one smiling, the other frowning.
"Who are they?" Yang asked curiously. Then she noticed one of the adults looked a bit like Mr. Beige, but much younger.
"Is that you?" She asked, causing him to laugh. "No, that's my father. I'm the little kid next to him." Both girls looked at the kid that was supposed to be the old man. He had messy hair and a grumpy expression. A small axe was clutched in his hands.
"That's you?" Cinder asked in disbelief. "You look so…" She paused for a second, not wanting to be rude.
"Unpleasant?" He finished. "Yes, in my youth I was a bit overzealous, but that's not what I wanted to show you. This is what I wanted to show you." He pointed to the other kid in the picture.
"That is Nicolas Schnee. Long before he became famous."
Both Cinder's and Yang's eyes went wide as they both crowded closer together to get a better look at the kid in the picture. He had white hair and blue eyes, a classic Schnee trait. But his eyes were warm and inviting, unlike the others in the family currently.
"Wow! Hard to believe this is the man who founded the SDC." Yang said. "Did he have an anti-Faunus policy too?" Mr. Beige shook his head sadly.
"No. That was implemented by his son-in-law. The horrible man on the news." He spoke with more venom than Cinder had ever heard from the kind old man. Honestly it caught her off guard. She guessed he still had some lingering attachment to Atlas. There must have been decent people who lived there back in his day.
"Was he a huntsman? Nicolas?" Cinder asked, trying to change topics. "I've always seen him in armor. A businessman wouldn't need that kind of stuff."
Her plan seemed to work. Beige's mood seemed to soften as he answered her question. "It wasn't a title back then. Huntsman and huntresses were just soldiers that were dispatched by the kingdoms. Or freelance mercenaries. It only became a job after he was already registered as a soldier. And he saw no need to change titles."
"That's hard to imagine." Cinder said. "Huntsman are so important to the kingdoms it's hard to picture a time we're they weren't even a thing."
"Well I don't mean to pull a 'back in my day' on you, but a lot of people didn't expect huntsmen and huntresses to last more than a few decades. And Nicolas was quite fond of flaunting his title of a knight. Slept with more women then I care to admit. It wasn't until he found his wife who, ironically enough, was a soldier girl from Vale, that he calmed down. After marriage, he helped the women he slept with getting better lives. In fact, the SDC was originally meant to-."
A loud ringing came from the kitchen, cutting Beige off. "Oh that's the soup! I'll be right back!" He hurried into the other room and the siblings could hear him moving things around. Then he came back in, carrying a large pot that smelled like steamed vegetables.
"That's smells amazing!" Cinder said as she and Yang sat down to eat. "You're to kind." Beige said as he set the pot down on the table. "But I'm nowhere near as good as Summer. I'm sure she made something similar, but better. In fact, I'm using her rec-"
He was cut off as lights in the house went out, dripping all of them into the darkness.
"Oh what deadfall timing. A power-outage now? Don't move, I'll get some flashlights. Just give me a sec-!" He stopped as Cinder ignited the glass in her clothes, illuminating a part of the house. "Or you could do that. That works too."
"I can't do this for long." Cinder said. "So we'll need these flashlights very soon. Tell me where they are and I'll get them. Save you the pain of stubbing your toe. It won't take lon-!" Cinder stopped, eyes wide. The other two in the room looked at her in confusion. Then followed her gaze.
And then they felt their hearts stop.
The door to the house was wide open, the lock completely destroyed.
"We've got company!" Beige snarled as he pulled his axe off the fireplace. "Yang! Get to safety, then call 911." Yang crotched down and pulled out her scroll. Where she began fumbling with it trying to make a call.
"After you're hidden!" Cinder yelled as she drew her blades. "The call can wait! Hurry up and hide!" Yang gave a small cry of surprise and dropped the scroll on to the floor where Cinder got a look at the screen. Her stomach dropped when she saw it didn't have a signal.
Yang moved to pick up the scroll, but stopped and turned when Cinder yelled at her."Forget the scroll! Just hide!" But Yang didn't move, her gaze fixed on a point just behind Cinder's ear. Her eyes were wide with fear and her arms were trembling uncontrollably. She seemed to have frozen out of fear.
Spinning around, Cinder saw a figure attached to the ceiling. She could tell he was dressed all in black, but couldn't make out any details as the moment her eyes landed on him, he leapt onto her.
Between the darkness and the surprise attack, Cinder didn't have time to react. She was knocked onto the floor, hitting her head on the hard ground causing her to lose focus making her semblance fizzle out.
Cinder hadn't recovered before the figure had gotten off her and moved to attack the other huntsman in the room. There was a scuffling sound as Mr. Beige tried to find his assailant in the complete darkness.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash and Yang screamed. Snapping out of her daze, Cinder leapt to her feet. Activating her semblance once again, she saw Mr. Beige had been thrown through the table causing the pot of hot soup to spill all over Yang.
The man in black was on top of Mr. Beige, trying to stab his chest with a black sword with a glass chamber in the center of the blade. Fortunately, Beige had his axe in between himself and his opponent's sword, keeping the weapon at bay.
"Yang get out of here!" Cinder screamed as she ran at the man in black. She swung at him, interesting to force him back, but he ducked under her strike and kicked her away. But the shift in his weight left him off balance, letting Beige push the smaller man off.
Behind them, Yang grabbed her scroll and ran for the door. The man glanced after her, then broke off from the fight, chasing the fleeing girl.
"No!" Cinder screamed. She changed Midnight to bow form and took aim. Meanwhile, Beige ran towards Yang trying to cut the man off before he could harm her.
With a gruff snarl, the man pressed a trigger on his blade. Immediately, the glass started to glowing bright red and lines all across the blade seemed to receive power as they lit up as well. As Beige dove between Yang and the man, Cinder fired her arrow at the man while Beige swung at his legs.
With unbelievable perception, the man leapt into the air with a spin, dodging the axe and the arrow effortlessly. The arrow hit the wall and the man landed before Beige could regain his balance. Immediately, he slashed the old man's chest twice, then kicked him into the well next to the arrow. There was a red residue on Beige where he was slashed, but before either of them could guess what it was the man pulled a second trigger on his sword.
Immediately, the residue, that they realized was finely crushed dust, exploded! The intense heat reacted with the dust in Cinder's arrow causing it to detonate as well. Completely engulfing Mr. Beige in flames.
As the flames cleared, Mr. Beige could be seen on his hands and knees coughing, his aura broken. Above him loomed the man in black. "Archibald sends his regulars!" The man said in a raspy, deep voice. He raised his sword over the old man, who looked up at him with recognition.
"Archibald? Don't tell me that fool is-!" Before he could finish, the sword came down, aimed right at his head.
"Aaaahhhhh!"
Right before impact, Cinder tackled the man from behind, sending them both tumbling into the kitchen. Cinder was the first to get back to her feet and she planned to use her advantage to end the fight right now! She jumped above him and spun downward like a windmill, aiming to cut off his head.
In response, the man turned the handle of his sword, changing the lines from red to blue. Then he blocked Cinder's first strike and pulled the second trigger again. Immediately, a long strand of ice appeared. Trapping Cinder's blade and making it too heavy for her to swing. She tried to activate her semblance, but it was too late as the man kicked her away where she crashed into the hot stove.
As she slumped against the stove having the wind knocked out of her, the man leapt to his feet and charged her again. She raised her frozen sword and immediately stored a large amount of heat inside it, then released it all at once, melting the ice and filling the room with steam, giving her a second to catch her breath.
But the man didn't stop. He charged headfirst into the steam and slashed Cinder twice across the chest, then kicked her in the face, knocking her to the ground. With a snarl, Cinder leapt to her feet and launched a flurry of lightning fast attacks, trying to get even. But the man effortlessly dodged and parried each and every blow.
Cinder was taken aback. Even if she hadn't recovered from his last blow, the room filled with steam! He should have his vision impaired, just like her! Yet it looked like it didn't affect him!
Suddenly, the man dodge out of the way of her strike and spun to kick her again. She raised her arm to block as she also moved to sweep his leg. But to her surprise, he calmly guided his kick through a hole in her guard and leaned it directly into her chest.
The force sent her crashing into the wall on the other side of the room, her aura flickering. Before she could recover, the man pulled the second trigger again. Ice dust appeared on Cinder's chest, trapping her.
She struggled to free herself, she activated her semblance, but the ice was twice as thick as before! Maybe more so. As the man shot forward, she closed her eyes, knowing she wasn't going to make it.
Suddenly, Beige charged into the room. Landing a clean hit into the man's stomach. The force sent him flying straight through the wall where he tumbled across the lawn coming to a stop at the edge of the property. Cinder saw a gray Aura flicker across the man's body.
As the moon shone down on him, Cinder got a good look at her opponent and felt her heart begin hammering against her chest.
The man looked like he had stepped out of a superhero movie. He wore a black helmet that covered his entire face. It looked like the front was a gas-mask with the back beginning made of a thick Kevlar weave. He had a shawl loosely draped over his shoulders and a Kevlar vest that bore symbols she didn't recognize. His arms had thick leather protecting his forearms and pads over his shoulders and elbows. A pair of thick black gloves with claws covered his hands, explaining how he was able to attach to the ceiling. He had a belt that housed several grenades and raw dust. His sword completely black save the lines. It looked like a Katana, but was much thicker and more high-tech with two triggers on the handle. There were four chambers on the guard, each one labeled with a different alchemical symbol. One for fire, water, air and…gold? What was that supposed to stand for?
As the man looked up at them, even without seeing his eyes, Cinder could feel their killer intent. She didn't know why, but this man wasn't like the other people she had fought. Something was different, but she couldn't place what.
Suddenly, without warning, he shot off to the right. Cinder's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing.
"Yang!" She screamed as she ripped her arm free, but she was still stuck. Immediately Mr. Beige charged once again to intercept him. Cinder could only watch in horror as she freed herself bit by bit.
Yang's eyes widened as both men charged towards her, weapons drawn. She had left her gauntlet back at Patch and had nothing to defend herself with.
As they closed in on Yang, the young girl began breathing rapidly and unevenly. Her eyes bulged and became unfocused as she fell to her knees clutching her head.
Suddenly, Yang wasn't in the city of Vale anymore, but in the abandoned house from four years ago. There the Werewolf stood, it was so massive that it engulfed the whole room. This time the creature's body wasn't made from the black dust, but of living shadows and blood that struggled to hold a complete form. It turned and roared at her, it's voice echoing from all sides around her. In its hand's lay Ruby's lifeless body, so body horrible mangled she was unrecognizable.
The eight year old's eyes were fixated on the body and she was too scared to move as the monster charged at her. Blood flying from its empty eye-sockets. Drool and blood flying from its open mouth.
There was suddenly movement in front of her as Cinder slid in-between them. The older girl was trying to protect her!
But the Werewolf effortlessly slashed her chest, knocking the girl out of the way, leaving those same scars that Cinder had to this day. A horrible feeling crept into Yang's stomach as she realized this was all her fault.
It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault!
It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault!
It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault! It was all her fault!
IT WAS ALWAYS HER FAULT!
Yang screamed! She fell to her elbows and knees, head still clutched tightly in her hands, trying to block out everything. She never asked for that! She didn't want her family to die! She just-!
"No!"
Cinder's agonized scream brought Yang back to reality. She realized there was someone standing in front of her, but it wasn't Cinder.
Mr. Beige stood back facing her. The old man must have just been hit as he was off balance. He staggered backwards and Yang wondered what kind of blow could move such a massive man. Then she saw his axe flying away from his body and her stomach churned.
His arm still gripped the weapon.
Repositioning his blade, the masked man pulled back, aiming carefully "Now, except your fate." He snarled. Yang saw Cinder running from inside the house, but she was too far away. Both girls could only watch in horror as the man shot forward.
Blood splatter onto Yang's face as the blade stabbed through Mr. Beige's heart and came out the other side.
I think this was a very productive chapter. Killed Cinder first friend, traumatized Yang, introduced one of the major antagonists, and created a lot of set up for things to come.
Mr. Beige was designed to be nice enough that you could see why Cinder was friends with him, I hope that came across. Without a beta reader, it's hard to tell.
As for the masked assailant, he is one of the major antagonists you'll meet in the burning rose. He'll be named much later down the line, so sit tight until then. As for his motive and ideology, that will also be revealed in time. For now he had a pretty simple roll which will be made clear next chapter.
Fun fact, he was actually designed from a fairy tale, just like most of the Rwby cast. Won't say which one, but I guarantee you'll find it appropriate when I do reveal it.
side note. i actually don't like putting authors notes on this site. I find it very annoying. but from this point on, I'm going to try. but i promise nothing.
Anyway, I hope to see you all next chapter. Bye!