bhehdhrgegeheggg

by the great pepsi man

eijehebdnzndhdjd

11. Grimm rwby si

I could recognize heated food at a distance. Not only could I recognize it, but I could also smell it. The same rice and soup combo was a staple of Ruby's lunch and dinner, and it was the sort of thing that needed to change. The only problem was that the closest village that hadn't been razed to the ground by Grimm was on the other side of the mountain range, and while some villages that now stood in ruins might have had edible food cans, they weren't fit and proper for a kid growing up.

Ruby needed vegetables in her diet.

"Menagerie to the South," Salem spoke, Ruby's attention shifting towards the woman. "It is where the freshest products are usually found by the Grimm."

The implicit because it's where they get to kill people with more ease was there, and I knew it was there. From this sort of creature born of the most horrific of nightmares, all kinds of implicit messages were there. "Little Ruby will remain here however," Salem continued. "It is such a dangerous place, filled with wild beasts." She eyed Ruby. "Are you not glad, child? For your continued health, Shade will brave the ocean and wild beasts."

"Is there a point to this, Salem?" I growled. "I'm not leaving her alone with you."

"I will not twist her against you if that is your worry," Salem answered dutifully, "Nor will I use your absence as a mean to do her harm. You are no prisoner of mine, Shade."

"Cut the crap," I hissed back. "Invisible walls and chains are still walls and chains," my eyes blazed, and Ruby grew scared. Abruptly, I stopped and placed a claw over my mask. "I'm not angry at you, Ruby," I muttered. "It's not your fault."

"I don't like veggies," Ruby mumbled with her eyes downcast on her platter. She was playing with the mushy rice, a pout on her cheeks. "I don't want you to go," she whined next.

I finished what little remained of my soup of darkness and everything evil, and though I had no idea what it actually was, I reckoned I could live without discovering the secret ingredient to Salem's soup. I stood up from my seat and slowly extended an arm on the other side of the table, Ruby hopping on my open claw with practiced ease. She had a couple of weeks of practice, and was now an expert climber of my arms and back. "Sometimes," I said, "We have to do things we don't like because they're good for us," I gingerly used the back of my free claw to push Ruby's hair away from her forehead, much to the child's pouting and dismay. "You need to eat better, so I'll go."

Salem said nothing. She merely finished her own soup of evil before standing up, clasping her hands together in front of her as was custom. She came to a halt by my side. "I may be convinced of the benefits of a more varied diet for little Ruby," she remarked quite calmly, her eyes and tone betraying nothing. "She is in need of a playmate too, is she not?"

My eyes blazed as spikes shattered free from the few remaining spots across my forearms, the whiteness extending from my wrists to my forearms as I stopped an inch away from Salem's eyes with my other claw. I snarled, and growled, "This isn't a game where you catch them all," I growled as I pushed against the invisible field that prevented me from attacking her, a couple of sharp cries catching my attention the next second as I turned down to look at Ruby's shivering form in my claw. "Ah...Oh! I'm sorry," I said in as much of a hushed whisper as I could, "I'm sorry, so sorry! Please don't cry! I'm not angry! Not angry at all."

My eyes blazed in Salem's direction, her unspoken suggestion still there.

Kidnapping a certain Blake Belladonna would have a twofold worth. The first would be that it would bring her father, the current High Chief of the White Fang and Chieftain of Menagerie, into the folds of Salem's camp. The second was that Ruby would have a new playmate, aka fellow hostage, to play with.

"I'll find a place in Mistral," I hissed out. "Near the borders of the land," I continued holding Ruby close. "Keeping Ruby close."

"Very well," Salem acquiesced. "Do be careful of a few clans of wayward tribesmen. They are quite feral, and always out for Grimm to hunt."

I ignored her jab. I wasn't going to risk Ruby's life by facing off against enemy Hunters, or tribesmen, or whatever. I was the ancient master of the art of presence concealment, of running-the-hell-away, and of many more varied skills and tricks that had fallen in my repertoire after years of life-experience.

"Be back for dinner," Salem said, and as she spoke without any emotion in her voice, I knew that she had done so to rile Ruby up. It made the kid sad, because it made her remember when she and her big sister would play in the garden. She and her big sister...

The desert left the place to cracked dirt, and the few ruins that dotted the landscape were inhabited by Grimm who eyed us both with indifference, broken and shattered remains of once thriving villages, and a few bones who hadn't turned to dust yet.

Near the border between what I could only describe as the Grimmlands and the rest of Mistral was a mountainous ridge, one that had many passes, many twists and turns, and that was inhabited by humans by the score. I could sense them, quite the distance away, up on the mountains and some even inside of them.

The Grimm could too.

Well, my lesser brethren had everything handled. I just had to keep on looking. I'd find something edible inside cans if I kept looking hard for it. When it came to other things, though, like toothbrushes and other stuff, what was I supposed to do? If Ruby caught a cough, how was I to drag her to a medic? I needed to trade. I needed to trade with the Tribesmen, or steal from them.

Wasn't this the same thing Salem did?

I turned my back on the border and rushed towards Salem's palace. The thick purple crystals that dotted the landscape looked precious to my eyes, but I had to make sure they weren't poisonous or worse.

It was as I leaped past a sand dune that I saw movement in the corner of my eyes, and said movement turned out to belong to a few masked individuals rushing away in the distance while beset by Grimm. Hadn't I seen one of their kind on the day of my birth too?

Tribesmen really did come here to scavenge for useful stuff, did they not?

If I waited for them, eventually one was supposed to cross the border while on my watch.

I was pretty sure I'd be able to convince them to collaborate.

My face was the picture-model of honesty.

And if I could say so myself, I had quite the killer smile.

The chosen Tribesman did not have the most pleasant of discoveries as he tried, and failed, to enter the Grimmlands undetected. Well, I couldn't fault him for having done his utmost best at keeping himself inconspicuous, dressed in red and black to hide better, and keeping his thoughts on the happy spectrum to avoid the attention of my brothers.

He had made a simple mistake. He had expected Grimm not to be able to see in the dark.

Also, he hadn't expected a claw to shoot out from beneath the sand to grab hold of his ankle and pull him back. It was best we kept to the border, because if he ended up growing too much shaken, then the rest of my brethren would arrive faster, and box him in.

The masked man was wearing a Beowolf's mask, a cheap product crafted with animal bones, because Grimm masks actually disappeared once a Grimm was killed. "Greetings," I snarled.

The man screamed. I shook him a bit in mid-air, "I said greetings!" I yelled louder than his screams. Grown-up men screaming only because they were in claws of death, seriously, weren't they of the hard men making hard decision school? Weren't they supposed to be cold and uncaring tough guys? And yet no, this guy was screaming. He was terrified of being eaten. He was blaming himself for having gone alone for some extra Lien.

He also was wondering why the Grimm holding him by his ankle at first, but now by his neck wasn't snapping his head off.

"Greetings," I growled once more.

The man behind the mask stared. He was thinking he had gone mad. "I am Shade."

"You...You speak?" he whispered in a mixture of pure terror and fright.

"Yes, I do," I replied. "Tell me," my eyes blazed. "Does your tribe have vegetables for sale?"

"Uh?" the man was confused. He wasn't so confused as to hit himself, but then again I was holding him down with my claws, and so he had nowhere to run even if he wanted to. "Vegetables?"

"And sheep," I continued. "Milk and wool in a single package. Still, vegetables first. Carrots for eyesight, oh, and blueberries. She might like strawberries too. I have a list," I had inked it by using one of my forearm's spikes and used careful brushes and strokes on a large canvas. It was passable. "I can pay."

"You...you have a list," the masked man mouthed. I nodded, and let go of his ankle to extend an arm behind me. Pulling it out of the sand, I brought it over to him. He glanced at the canvas. It was as big as him. He glanced back at me. I was thrice his size. "How...how much of..."

I pulled out from the sand a large Dust crystal half my size, which meant it was bigger than the man by half the size. Also, a few crumpled pieces of paper. All of the Lien I could find in the nearest village ruins.

"I can pay," I said. "You have one week," I continued. "The Lien are in advance. The Dust at finished work. Don't try to be cheap. I'll know," my eyes burned as I glared at the huntsman whose neck was in my palm. I gingerly let go of him and sat on the sand. "Can you do it?"

The man hastily got back up on his feet, dusting himself off and staring at the crystal, and then at myself. "I can...refuse?"

"Yes," I replied. "But if you accept, and then don't keep your word..." I clenched my right claw, "I will find you."

The man swallowed. "One week...don't be cheap...the Lien in advance." He stared at the Dust crystal, and then at the canvas. I had written just a short amount of stuff. Things like toothpaste and toothbrushes, some medicine for fevers and stomachaches. "The medicines might take more than one week. We don't have bullheads."

"Then you will bring what you can," my eyes burned. "I will know if you shortchange me. Also, hay for the sheep. Don't forget the sheep. Alive."

"Y-Yes," the man nodded. "I'll...I can do this."

"Be careful," I added next, "I am the only Grimm who will speak, or trade. The rest will...eat, kill, butcher." I stood up to my full height. "We will meet here in a week, when the sun goes down."

"You're the chief!" the man blurted out, nodding hastily as he began to gather the Lien notes on the ground. When he had enough, he quite quickly rushed away. If it didn't work out, I'd just have to get another tribesman to come do the job.

I could probably manage to kidnap a sheep, but if this worked, then I'd have more time I could dedicate to teaching Ruby the delicate intricacies of not trusting Salem, which were the most important thing to teach the kid.

Currently, I was teaching Ruby how to read. We were making progress. It was slow, and the books Salem had in her library weren't the most interesting, but we were making progress. Though I pitied Ruby. What kind of child learns how to read from the Remnant version of War and Peace? Or Pride and Prejudice? Still, Ruby was a good kid. She fussed, she put up an adorable pout, she whined and she drew with pastels everywhere she could, but she was also quite diligent.

I found her diligently drawing with colors what amounted to a masterful rendition of a big bad wolf and a red cloaked little girl on a canvas. Though she was using pastels when paint would have been better, she was still quite the budding artistic talent.

The War and Peace equivalent that she was supposed to read was left in a corner, dutifully abandoned. Well, I couldn't fault her. I wouldn't read that thing even if forced. Perhaps she'd need a bit more time to get used to reading difficult stuff.

"You're back!" Ruby exclaimed as she heard me arrive. Not that it was a difficult feat. Anyone could hear me arrive. Hell, even deaf people could hear me arrive. Ruby bounced away from the canvas and hopped towards the right palm of my hand, her tiny arms encircling it in a hug. "I wanna play!"

I looked down at her.

She stared up at me with the most brilliant shine in her silver eyes.

"What do you want to play?" I asked, crouching down to be smaller, though it wasn't enough of course. I'd have to lay down on the ground to actually manage such a feat.

"Dress up like a princess!" Ruby cheerfully said.

I nonchalantly nodded. Well, this was probably something Yang did with Ruby. It would be complicated to dress her up, but maybe she'd just grow tired after the first few tries.

"Very well," I said. "What will you—"

Ruby's hands grabbed hold of a piece of paper on which she had drawn a set of shining, eye-searing gold and red checkers. She then most decisively tried to pin said piece of paper on my chest by clambering on one of my knees and then deciding to settle for the lower half of my Beowolf stomach. "You look good!" Ruby said with a big, bright smile.

I stared at the piece of paper. I stared back at Ruby.

I couldn't understand what was going on in the mind of a little kid.

Gods, I had truly become old.

The chosen Tribesman did not have the most pleasant of discoveries as he tried, and failed, to enter the Grimmlands undetected. Well, I couldn't fault him for having done his utmost best at keeping himself inconspicuous, dressed in red and black to hide better, and keeping his thoughts on the happy spectrum to avoid the attention of my brothers.

He had made a simple mistake. He had expected Grimm not to be able to see in the dark.

Also, he hadn't expected a claw to shoot out from beneath the sand to grab hold of his ankle and pull him back. It was best we kept to the border, because if he ended up growing too much shaken, then the rest of my brethren would arrive faster, and box him in.

The masked man was wearing a Beowolf's mask, a cheap product crafted with animal bones, because Grimm masks actually disappeared once a Grimm was killed. "Greetings," I snarled.

The man screamed. I shook him a bit in mid-air, "I said greetings!" I yelled louder than his screams. Grown-up men screaming only because they were in claws of death, seriously, weren't they of the hard men making hard decision school? Weren't they supposed to be cold and uncaring tough guys? And yet no, this guy was screaming. He was terrified of being eaten. He was blaming himself for having gone alone for some extra Lien.

He also was wondering why the Grimm holding him by his ankle at first, but now by his neck wasn't snapping his head off.

"Greetings," I growled once more.

The man behind the mask stared. He was thinking he had gone mad. "I am Shade."

"You...You speak?" he whispered in a mixture of pure terror and fright.

"Yes, I do," I replied. "Tell me," my eyes blazed. "Does your tribe have vegetables for sale?"

"Uh?" the man was confused. He wasn't so confused as to hit himself, but then again I was holding him down with my claws, and so he had nowhere to run even if he wanted to. "Vegetables?"

"And sheep," I continued. "Milk and wool in a single package. Still, vegetables first. Carrots for eyesight, oh, and blueberries. She might like strawberries too. I have a list," I had inked it by using one of my forearm's spikes and used careful brushes and strokes on a large canvas. It was passable. "I can pay."

"You...you have a list," the masked man mouthed. I nodded, and let go of his ankle to extend an arm behind me. Pulling it out of the sand, I brought it over to him. He glanced at the canvas. It was as big as him. He glanced back at me. I was thrice his size. "How...how much of..."

I pulled out from the sand a large Dust crystal half my size, which meant it was bigger than the man by half the size. Also, a few crumpled pieces of paper. All of the Lien I could find in the nearest village ruins.

"I can pay," I said. "You have one week," I continued. "The Lien are in advance. The Dust at finished work. Don't try to be cheap. I'll know," my eyes burned as I glared at the huntsman whose neck was in my palm. I gingerly let go of him and sat on the sand. "Can you do it?"

The man hastily got back up on his feet, dusting himself off and staring at the crystal, and then at myself. "I can...refuse?"

"Yes," I replied. "But if you accept, and then don't keep your word..." I clenched my right claw, "I will find you."

The man swallowed. "One week...don't be cheap...the Lien in advance." He stared at the Dust crystal, and then at the canvas. I had written just a short amount of stuff. Things like toothpaste and toothbrushes, some medicine for fevers and stomachaches. "The medicines might take more than one week. We don't have bullheads."

"Then you will bring what you can," my eyes burned. "I will know if you shortchange me. Also, hay for the sheep. Don't forget the sheep. Alive."

"Y-Yes," the man nodded. "I'll...I can do this."

"Be careful," I added next, "I am the only Grimm who will speak, or trade. The rest will...eat, kill, butcher." I stood up to my full height. "We will meet here in a week, when the sun goes down."

"You're the chief!" the man blurted out, nodding hastily as he began to gather the Lien notes on the ground. When he had enough, he quite quickly rushed away. If it didn't work out, I'd just have to get another tribesman to come do the job.

I could probably manage to kidnap a sheep, but if this worked, then I'd have more time I could dedicate to teaching Ruby the delicate intricacies of not trusting Salem, which were the most important thing to teach the kid.

Currently, I was teaching Ruby how to read. We were making progress. It was slow, and the books Salem had in her library weren't the most interesting, but we were making progress. Though I pitied Ruby. What kind of child learns how to read from the Remnant version of War and Peace? Or Pride and Prejudice? Still, Ruby was a good kid. She fussed, she put up an adorable pout, she whined and she drew with pastels everywhere she could, but she was also quite diligent.

I found her diligently drawing with colors what amounted to a masterful rendition of a big bad wolf and a red cloaked little girl on a canvas. Though she was using pastels when paint would have been better, she was still quite the budding artistic talent.

The War and Peace equivalent that she was supposed to read was left in a corner, dutifully abandoned. Well, I couldn't fault her. I wouldn't read that thing even if forced. Perhaps she'd need a bit more time to get used to reading difficult stuff.

"You're back!" Ruby exclaimed as she heard me arrive. Not that it was a difficult feat. Anyone could hear me arrive. Hell, even deaf people could hear me arrive. Ruby bounced away from the canvas and hopped towards the right palm of my hand, her tiny arms encircling it in a hug. "I wanna play!"

I looked down at her.

She stared up at me with the most brilliant shine in her silver eyes.

"What do you want to play?" I asked, crouching down to be smaller, though it wasn't enough of course. I'd have to lay down on the ground to actually manage such a feat.

"Dress up like a princess!" Ruby cheerfully said.

I nonchalantly nodded. Well, this was probably something Yang did with Ruby. It would be complicated to dress her up, but maybe she'd just grow tired after the first few tries.

"Very well," I said. "What will you—"

Ruby's hands grabbed hold of a piece of paper on which she had drawn a set of shining, eye-searing gold and red checkers. She then most decisively tried to pin said piece of paper on my chest by clambering on one of my knees and then deciding to settle for the lower half of my Beowolf stomach. "You look good!" Ruby said with a big, bright smile.

I stared at the piece of paper. I stared back at Ruby.

I couldn't understand what was going on in the mind of a little kid.

Gods, I had truly become old.

The sheep was positively uncaring. It had the galls to bleat at me, bleat. The man with the Beowolf mask had come through on his side of the deal, bringing a few crates and hoping they'd be enough not to make me think he had shortchanged me. Then again, believing his inner fears, the amount of Dust I had offered him would more than aptly repay him. Also, it helped that he didn't have to risk his neck for it. He wasn't alone though, because he couldn't have carried everything on his own, and anyway the Dust I offered was a good enough haul for him and some of his associates.

There were three of them, plus a couple who remained way back trying to do their best impression of bushes. They weren't failing miserably at it either, but their nervousness rolled off the air like the sweet intoxicating scent of coffee beans, and so I knew they were there. And I knew they tasted delicious. And yet, I held myself under my tightly knit self-control and did nothing.

"Bring the same things next week," I said flatly, "Minus the sheep. Remember the medicines."

Beowolf-mask man stared at me through his Grimm mask, and then nodded. "Didn't know Grimm ate veggies," one of the tribesmen a bit back muttered, his Grimm mask similar to that of a Deathstalker. My eyes blazed as they settled on him, and he tensed together with the rest of his associates.

"I heard that," I growled. "Your humor is delicious." I snarled. "Deliciously painful."

"Ah!" the last of the trio that stood out in the open, an Ursa-masked man, chuckled. "He got ya." He jibed the Deathstalker-masked.

I lifted the crates with one arm, grabbed the sheep with the other, and then turned to leave, the Dust crystal left behind. "Keep our transactions quiet," I growled. "And go before my brothers catch your scent."

Without waiting for a reply, I rushed off. Don't worry Ruby, I know you might not like bell-peppers now, but wait until after I've roasted them! Though I do need to find out the kitchens, and then find out how badly they are in disarray, and finally discover just where the Jellyfish Grimms get their pre-heated food for you, but in the end, I will make you good, healthy food!

I dropped the sheep together with its hay inside the abandoned palace's dome, leaving the beast chained to a nearby metal column meant to keep the glass dome stable. I'd have to remember to feed it hay, or perhaps hoist it off Ruby and call it a form of education on duty and responsibility.

The palace's kitchens were, as suspected, covered in thick dust and cobwebs. Well, everywhere from the pristine white counters to the sinks covered in rust screamed about sanitary biohazard. Everything looked ready to fall apart. Everything but two things, a wooden door that seemed new, and a microwave.

Honestly, some tiny part of my brain should have connected the dots that preheated food meant a microwave, but I couldn't really believe it was the answer. First of all, the microwave had to be a new addition. I doubted hundreds of years ago they already had microwaves. Secondly, someone had to have made the trip to bring it. The silly image of Salem entering the equivalent of a tech shop and buying a microwave made me snort in giggles.

Hello Madam, may I help you?

I am in search of a microwave. Help me, human, and I will not exterminate you from existence!

My right claw covered my snout as I laughed into my palm. The door lead into the pantry, where rows upon rows of cheap cup rice, cup noodles and cup soup stood all neatly stacked. The pantry was big enough to feed a whole army, and apparently more than half of it was filled with cup, five minutes top to prepare, foods. I couldn't help but admire the simple yet elegant solution to having guests over as the leader of an army bent on extermination. If you can't kill them with claws, kill them with an excess in sodium intake.

I snorted again.

"A shipment was sunk near the coast a few years back," Salem replied from behind me, her hands clasped in front of her as always, as if she had used superglue to stick them together like a certain German lady. "Most was not salvageable, but what was has been recovered." She looked straight at me. "You brought a sheep in my painting room."

"You weren't using it," I replied dutifully.

"It is my painting room," Salem said flatly. There was not emotion in her voice, her eyes didn't blaze, nor was she showing any hints or signs of anger. "She will ruin the plants."

"There are no plants there," I replied. "All dead."

Salem said nothing, but simply nodded at my words. "I see," she said in the end. She remained there, blocking the exit by the simple act of staying on the doorway. Since I couldn't shove her aside, all that I could do was wait for her to move on her own. Perhaps she knew it too, and was enjoying holding me inside the pantry for some reason.

"The piping," I said since she was standing in front of the pantry door, yet to leave, "It's rusted."

"So it is," Salem acknowledged. "What of it?"

"It needs repair," I pointed out. Salem looked at me. I stared back at her. We stared at one another for a few minutes, and then she nodded once more. "Thanks."

"Humans are fickle," Salem said as she turned to leave. "Or are you the ficklest of them all? Were you not angry at me?"

"I can be more than one thing at the same time," I retorted as I slowly lumbered out of the pantry. "I was taught to say thanks when someone does me a favor."

Salem stopped only long enough for me to accost her, and as the unspoken realization that she wished to walk with me entered my mind unbidden, I found myself slowing down my gait considerably as she began, once more, to walk. At first we left the kitchen in silence, but then stepped through the large hallways of her palace until we reached her office.

"I had questions," Salem said.

I looked at her, and waited.

"How would you go about building a gas chamb—"

Her desk was shredded into singular molecules of wood as her parchments scattered all across the room. My howl of rage shattered the tiles of the pavement as the books along the shelves trembled and fell, my claws inches away from her body, my mouth foaming from the sheer desire to rip her into shreds, but failing miserably as there was this invisible wall, this invisible force, holding me back.

"Fitting I suppose," Salem said dutifully. "Your humanity and Remnant's humanity are similar, and yet profoundly different in certain aspects. Yours is quite crueler. Had I been tasked with its extermination, the Grimm would have overrun them in a matter of months." She looked down at her broken desk, and at her shredded papers. "I will have to get a new desk." She did not appear saddened by it. "You think I am being needlessly cruel," Salem continued.

"Yes," I hissed out through my choking throat. She couldn't really be planning on doing what I thought she'd do. "You are."

"Cruelty is in the eye of the beholder," Salem pointed out. "The most efficient ways of killing mankind will be used, whenever possible. Dying choked to death is less painful than being eaten alive, would you not agree?"

"Not dying would be the best possible option, Salem!" I growled, slamming my right foot on the ground. The tiles burst apart in shrapnel, sparks glinting in the air from where my talons were leaving marks on them.

Salem simply smiled. "Thank you for your help, Shade," she said in the end, her right hand rising as my body lunged downwards, sickeningly like a dog with my tail waggling. Only, my tail was rattling and no longer simply waggling. My spikes had kept growing, and had abruptly begun to shift into spirals one with the other while pressing themselves against my body, forming some sort of tightly knit net the closer to my claws they were, and a looser one the further back they had been. My tail, once black and fluffy, was now starting to get covered in spikes too. "If I have a need for your knowledge, I will call you once more." Her hand patted the top of my head, my frame groveling downwards like a sickeningly sweet puppy. The loathing, the anger I felt at my body was mixed with the emotions of feeling happy for the headrubbing I was receiving.

This, if anything, sickened me a thousand times over.

"This isn't over, Salem," I rasped out as she removed her hand, my body standing back up on its own, finally returning to my control.

"This was over the moment you were born, Shade," Salem replied nonchalantly. "Ozpin may believe in his fickle simple soul and tiny flame of hope, but I now have something he will never possess." She shook her head slowly, nonchalantly, a small smile on her lips. "I have the knowledge of the true depths of humanity's darkness, and I will use that knowledge, Shade. I will use it, and I will let mankind crush itself." She chuckled. "If you wish to blame someone, do not blame yourself. Blame those who came before you, blame those who, when given an option between aiding one another as brothers, or hating one another as enemies, chose the latter. Blame your humanity, formed of cruel tyrants, petty dictators, and tribe leaders who butchered for no other reason than the place of one's birth. Blame them all, because Remnant will fall thanks to them." She neared her right hand to pat the back of my left claw. "And thanks to you."

"You will be stopped," I pulled my claw back, hastily starting to walk away. "This isn't my world. This isn't my humanity. They'll surprise you, all of them."

"Perhaps they will," Salem said with yet another chuckle, "But you will be there to turn their victories into defeats," she sat back down at her chair, "for it is better to be prepared and murderous, than unprepared and murdered."

I slammed my right claw against the side of Salem's office door, shattering the marble, the rock, and gouging deep chunks out as I left the claw mark against it.

Ruby, please grow up as quickly as you can.

Please, Ruby, grow up and become the hero this story needs.

The sheep was positively uncaring. It had the galls to bleat at me, bleat. The man with the Beowolf mask had come through on his side of the deal, bringing a few crates and hoping they'd be enough not to make me think he had shortchanged me. Then again, believing his inner fears, the amount of Dust I had offered him would more than aptly repay him. Also, it helped that he didn't have to risk his neck for it. He wasn't alone though, because he couldn't have carried everything on his own, and anyway the Dust I offered was a good enough haul for him and some of his associates.

There were three of them, plus a couple who remained way back trying to do their best impression of bushes. They weren't failing miserably at it either, but their nervousness rolled off the air like the sweet intoxicating scent of coffee beans, and so I knew they were there. And I knew they tasted delicious. And yet, I held myself under my tightly knit self-control and did nothing.

"Bring the same things next week," I said flatly, "Minus the sheep. Remember the medicines."

Beowolf-mask man stared at me through his Grimm mask, and then nodded. "Didn't know Grimm ate veggies," one of the tribesmen a bit back muttered, his Grimm mask similar to that of a Deathstalker. My eyes blazed as they settled on him, and he tensed together with the rest of his associates.

"I heard that," I growled. "Your humor is delicious." I snarled. "Deliciously painful."

"Ah!" the last of the trio that stood out in the open, an Ursa-masked man, chuckled. "He got ya." He jibed the Deathstalker-masked.

I lifted the crates with one arm, grabbed the sheep with the other, and then turned to leave, the Dust crystal left behind. "Keep our transactions quiet," I growled. "And go before my brothers catch your scent."

Without waiting for a reply, I rushed off. Don't worry Ruby, I know you might not like bell-peppers now, but wait until after I've roasted them! Though I do need to find out the kitchens, and then find out how badly they are in disarray, and finally discover just where the Jellyfish Grimms get their pre-heated food for you, but in the end, I will make you good, healthy food!

I dropped the sheep together with its hay inside the abandoned palace's dome, leaving the beast chained to a nearby metal column meant to keep the glass dome stable. I'd have to remember to feed it hay, or perhaps hoist it off Ruby and call it a form of education on duty and responsibility.

The palace's kitchens were, as suspected, covered in thick dust and cobwebs. Well, everywhere from the pristine white counters to the sinks covered in rust screamed about sanitary biohazard. Everything looked ready to fall apart. Everything but two things, a wooden door that seemed new, and a microwave.

Honestly, some tiny part of my brain should have connected the dots that preheated food meant a microwave, but I couldn't really believe it was the answer. First of all, the microwave had to be a new addition. I doubted hundreds of years ago they already had microwaves. Secondly, someone had to have made the trip to bring it. The silly image of Salem entering the equivalent of a tech shop and buying a microwave made me snort in giggles.

Hello Madam, may I help you?

I am in search of a microwave. Help me, human, and I will not exterminate you from existence!

My right claw covered my snout as I laughed into my palm. The door lead into the pantry, where rows upon rows of cheap cup rice, cup noodles and cup soup stood all neatly stacked. The pantry was big enough to feed a whole army, and apparently more than half of it was filled with cup, five minutes top to prepare, foods. I couldn't help but admire the simple yet elegant solution to having guests over as the leader of an army bent on extermination. If you can't kill them with claws, kill them with an excess in sodium intake.

I snorted again.

"A shipment was sunk near the coast a few years back," Salem replied from behind me, her hands clasped in front of her as always, as if she had used superglue to stick them together like a certain German lady. "Most was not salvageable, but what was has been recovered." She looked straight at me. "You brought a sheep in my painting room."

"You weren't using it," I replied dutifully.

"It is my painting room," Salem said flatly. There was not emotion in her voice, her eyes didn't blaze, nor was she showing any hints or signs of anger. "She will ruin the plants."

"There are no plants there," I replied. "All dead."

Salem said nothing, but simply nodded at my words. "I see," she said in the end. She remained there, blocking the exit by the simple act of staying on the doorway. Since I couldn't shove her aside, all that I could do was wait for her to move on her own. Perhaps she knew it too, and was enjoying holding me inside the pantry for some reason.

"The piping," I said since she was standing in front of the pantry door, yet to leave, "It's rusted."

"So it is," Salem acknowledged. "What of it?"

"It needs repair," I pointed out. Salem looked at me. I stared back at her. We stared at one another for a few minutes, and then she nodded once more. "Thanks."

"Humans are fickle," Salem said as she turned to leave. "Or are you the ficklest of them all? Were you not angry at me?"

"I can be more than one thing at the same time," I retorted as I slowly lumbered out of the pantry. "I was taught to say thanks when someone does me a favor."

Salem stopped only long enough for me to accost her, and as the unspoken realization that she wished to walk with me entered my mind unbidden, I found myself slowing down my gait considerably as she began, once more, to walk. At first we left the kitchen in silence, but then stepped through the large hallways of her palace until we reached her office.

"I had questions," Salem said.

I looked at her, and waited.

"How would you go about building a gas chamb—"

Her desk was shredded into singular molecules of wood as her parchments scattered all across the room. My howl of rage shattered the tiles of the pavement as the books along the shelves trembled and fell, my claws inches away from her body, my mouth foaming from the sheer desire to rip her into shreds, but failing miserably as there was this invisible wall, this invisible force, holding me back.

"Fitting I suppose," Salem said dutifully. "Your humanity and Remnant's humanity are similar, and yet profoundly different in certain aspects. Yours is quite crueler. Had I been tasked with its extermination, the Grimm would have overrun them in a matter of months." She looked down at her broken desk, and at her shredded papers. "I will have to get a new desk." She did not appear saddened by it. "You think I am being needlessly cruel," Salem continued.

"Yes," I hissed out through my choking throat. She couldn't really be planning on doing what I thought she'd do. "You are."

"Cruelty is in the eye of the beholder," Salem pointed out. "The most efficient ways of killing mankind will be used, whenever possible. Dying choked to death is less painful than being eaten alive, would you not agree?"

"Not dying would be the best possible option, Salem!" I growled, slamming my right foot on the ground. The tiles burst apart in shrapnel, sparks glinting in the air from where my talons were leaving marks on them.

Salem simply smiled. "Thank you for your help, Shade," she said in the end, her right hand rising as my body lunged downwards, sickeningly like a dog with my tail waggling. Only, my tail was rattling and no longer simply waggling. My spikes had kept growing, and had abruptly begun to shift into spirals one with the other while pressing themselves against my body, forming some sort of tightly knit net the closer to my claws they were, and a looser one the further back they had been. My tail, once black and fluffy, was now starting to get covered in spikes too. "If I have a need for your knowledge, I will call you once more." Her hand patted the top of my head, my frame groveling downwards like a sickeningly sweet puppy. The loathing, the anger I felt at my body was mixed with the emotions of feeling happy for the headrubbing I was receiving.

This, if anything, sickened me a thousand times over.

"This isn't over, Salem," I rasped out as she removed her hand, my body standing back up on its own, finally returning to my control.

"This was over the moment you were born, Shade," Salem replied nonchalantly. "Ozpin may believe in his fickle simple soul and tiny flame of hope, but I now have something he will never possess." She shook her head slowly, nonchalantly, a small smile on her lips. "I have the knowledge of the true depths of humanity's darkness, and I will use that knowledge, Shade. I will use it, and I will let mankind crush itself." She chuckled. "If you wish to blame someone, do not blame yourself. Blame those who came before you, blame those who, when given an option between aiding one another as brothers, or hating one another as enemies, chose the latter. Blame your humanity, formed of cruel tyrants, petty dictators, and tribe leaders who butchered for no other reason than the place of one's birth. Blame them all, because Remnant will fall thanks to them." She neared her right hand to pat the back of my left claw. "And thanks to you."

"You will be stopped," I pulled my claw back, hastily starting to walk away. "This isn't my world. This isn't my humanity. They'll surprise you, all of them."

"Perhaps they will," Salem said with yet another chuckle, "But you will be there to turn their victories into defeats," she sat back down at her chair, "for it is better to be prepared and murderous, than unprepared and murdered."

I slammed my right claw against the side of Salem's office door, shattering the marble, the rock, and gouging deep chunks out as I left the claw mark against it.

Ruby, please grow up as quickly as you can.

Please, Ruby, grow up and become the hero this story needs.

I did not know when Ruby's birthday was. I would have loved nothing less than to give her a gift, because she truly was a good kid and a champion in her own rights. She had managed to run up a sand dune all on her own after all, and that was worthy of being praised. This was her training, or at least, what training I decided to impart on her. Every morning, or afternoon, or whenever really, we'd go on a walk through the desert. When she got tired, I'd carry her back myself, but seeing her resolutely march up a sand dune was something I'd love to get a picture of, and then show it off to other people.

Little Ruby couldn't be so cute even when she was so determined!

Yet, at the same time, Salem's words clouded deeply my mind. Whatever she wished to do with the knowledge I could give her, she'd need time to put it in motion. The best place she could use for some of humanity's darkest inventions was easy to place in Atlas, since the Schnee's director was a man who cared about results and profit, and not about the healthcare of its owners. If the Schnee found itself involved in scandals like forcing their workers to work to their deaths, then Dust exports would drop. If that happened, then the whole world would face a crisis.

If Atlas didn't care about it, however, then there still would be a crisis. It would be a humanitarian one, or judging by the streaks of racism, a faunus one. This in turn would bring the White Fang easily in the folds of Salem's camp. All that she needed to claim was that she wanted to aid the Faunus against the Humans, and voilà, she'd have her army of rebels ready to weaken the kingdoms from within.

Since I had thought about this, Salem knew about it too. Thankfully, mine were merely general ideas and guidelines. She would have to get in contact with the right people, do the right amount of pressure and whatnot and, in the end, I had no specifics. I didn't know, for example, the names of the Atlas' council members, or where they lived. Hell, I didn't even know where the Schnee mansion was, or where to find them. Sure, Salem would eventually find them, but it gave me time.

Time I had to spend wisely, training a kid who I knew wouldn't become as strong as the original because I wasn't a certified Hunter teacher, and this wasn't Signal.

There was something sad about how Ruby didn't protest. She was earnestly a good kid. It made me kind-of sad to see her grin and smile, and hang on my forearms like a small monkey watching the horizon.

"Pretty!" she said as she pointed at a crystal. "What is it?"

"Dust," I replied. "Dust crystals," I continued. "They're used for electricity, heat, and can be refined in Dust bullets," I glanced at the purple colored one, "I don't remember what purple Dust is, but—" I tensed. I felt in the air something bizarre and new. It was...hatred.

Hatred and desire for revenge burned through the air as I swiftly turned my gaze to the horizon. The stoking flames of anger were so warm and hot that they burned my tongue like the finest of foods. It felt like eating a bagna càuda, and inwardly I relished the possibility that it was Qrow, or Taiyang, come to recover Ruby. Perhaps I'd get her to return home. My non-existing heart soared in my chest.

"Dust," Ruby said. "It's pretty," she said. I absentmindedly nodded. "Can I bring some home?" she asked next, and I moved my right claw to break off a chunk of the crystal outcropping. Ruby looked at the big piece in my other hand, and then giggled. "Thank you!"

"No problem," I replied dutifully, before breaking off with my thumb and index claw a piece that Ruby could carry around herself. I handed it over into her hands, and she dutifully grabbed hold of it. "Don't lose it."

"I won't!" Ruby pouted, as if affronted I'd dare suggest she'd ever possibly lose it. "Do we go back now?" she asked next.

"Not yet," I said, glancing in the direction where I felt the hatred coming from. Whoever the source of it was, my fellow Grimm were already on the move. The slow rumbling noise of a Goliath made me turn my neck sideways to see the massive beast stop by my side. It pondered its next move together with me, its massive eyes blazing. Ruby huddled closer in my palm. I looked up at the beast, and the elephant-like creature looked at me for a brief instant, before abruptly deciding to wait and see.

The lower ranks and files of the Grimm instead moved forward. Beowolves rushed across the landscape the moment the source of the hatred and revenge passed the border, and as I felt tiny twitches and snaps, I realized they were also being killed quite swiftly. Whoever was coming through was strong, and quick. The sounds of battle reached my ears, and the Goliath decided to move sideways. I looked at the beast step further back, and didn't understand why until I saw the sand shifts, King Taijitu slithering through and burrowing into the ground awaiting their prey.

Finally, I saw the humanoid figure rushing forward, and as I did, I belatedly realized whom it was.

It was no Qrow Branwen, or his twin sister.

It was a young girl wearing a leather jacket and a pair of long black trousers. She had dark air, and moved nimbly through the Grimm besieging her on all sides as if she didn't care about them, as if they were nothing but small fries. The King Taijitu waited until she was closer, and then burst from below the sand with its jaws open. The young girl looked at the beast come her way, and in a split-second decided to shift her body sideways to avoid the lunge. That was what the Goliath had been waiting for, his trunk expelling a bone-like spear that slammed home into the girl's chest, sending her to impact abruptly against the red sand.

She had aura, or she'd have been skewered to death.

Ruby screamed at the sight, clutching firmly on to my claw, her eyes wide and half-bawling. "We have to help her!" she yelled.

I looked at the figure, and then I held myself back.

This was Cinder.

Well, this was young Cinder, coming to train under Salem and learn under her how to be a cruel, conniving, backstabbing bitch. This was Cinder who sought to become the most powerful of them all and the most feared, and her hatred and her desire for revenge burned brightly like a beacon to my senses. There was fear now, however. Fear that she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Salem couldn't be ignorant of what was going on. Yet, she was willing to let it be. It made sense. She didn't need Cinder when she knew how the plan would work out in the end. She could take anyone, and replace her with anyone. No, the only one who'd benefit from having Cinder in Salem's hands was none other than myself. A random stranger wouldn't be easy to read, or understand, but the enemy that I knew of? There was the saying after all. Also, if I didn't intervene, I'd scar Ruby forever.

Cinder, rather than stay down, pulled herself back up and dashed with her twin metal swords turned into a bow, throwing arrows at the Taijitu who was pursuing her. The Goliath held back, waiting for a moment in which his next blow wouldn't be avoided. Cinder's arrows impacted against the white armor of the Taijitu, the snake-like Grimm biting at her with its black side, its white one instead busy pursuing her. Cinder passed over a crystal outcropping, hopped lightly on the top of it, and jumped backwards. The desired result was to trap the Taijitu by tying it into a knot.

Had I not been watching, it would have worked. Rather, the Taijitu pushed forward with increased speed with one head, while the other instead circled the crystal outcropping to form a whip-like backlash that slammed home against Cinder's back, sending the girl face down on the sand. I lunged there and then, knowing fully well that this was the instant the Goliath was waiting for.

My free claw grabbed hold of the thrown bone-like spear, Cinder's body jerked and swiftly spun trying to avoid it, but she stopped as I thrust the mid-air grabbed spear an inch away from her face.

"Stop," I snarled, my face an inch away from hers. "You seek the Queen." Cinder's eyes widened, but then they narrowed. The fear within her was hidden behind arrogance. "Choose your words carefully," I roared with enough strength to slightly deafen her. "I taste your fear, and—"

"Hi, I'm Ruby!" Ruby chose that as the moment to pipe in, emerging from my other claw with her wide silver eyes staring straight at Cinder.

Honestly, Ruby, I'm trying to be the big bad intimidating wolf here.

Can you please not ruin this? Pretty please? I'll let you feed Miss Sheeples all by yourself if you do this one thing for me.

The Grimm surrounded us in the meantime, staring in wait. I eyed them, and they eyed me. They weren't attacking, mostly because they realized, or instinctively thought, that I'd eat her faster than them.

"Stay still," I grumbled as my free claw grabbed hold of Cinder, "I'll bring you to Salem." I gingerly stood back up, and then quickly hightailed it out of there while the rest of the Grimm watched in disbelief, or well, what passed for disbelief in the mind of the Grimm, myself retreating without actually eating the young girl in question.

"I'm Ruby!" Ruby said once more as I dashed through the sands in the direction of Salem's castle. "What's your name?" she asked next, her head the only thing emerging from my claw as Cinder was in a similar situation, if with slightly more exposed body parts since she was taller.

Cinder had a mixture of honest befuddlement inside her head. There was fear, excitement at having finally reached the Witch of the Grimmlands, sheer thrill at being at the cusp of achieving incredible cosmic powers—or something of the sort—and a firm determination to get her revenge on everyone who had belittled her. She would see her family die, her sisters burn alive, blood and gore splatter across the streets of her city and in the end, they'd all learn to fear her just like she had learned to fear her stepmother's whip.

I stared at Remnant's version of Cinderella and inwardly sighed.

"Cinder," Cinder said to Ruby. "My name is...Cinder."

"Hi," Ruby said. She then shyly looked away. "You have pretty hair!"

Cinder blinked. She awkwardly looked at the sand dunes passing us by as I rushed across the sand, and then acquiesced to the strange kid in the giant Beowolf's claw. "Thank you." Ruby kept smiling at Cinder. "You have...nice eyes."

"Thank you!" Ruby chirped back. "Wanna play?" Ruby asked shyly.

"Uh...ah...well..." honestly, I was doing my best to keep quiet because this was honestly snicker-worthy. "I think...yes?"

"Yes!" Ruby chirped as she looked up at me with a big bright smile. "I can play with Cinder, right?"

I snorted. "Behave," I grumbled. "First she meets Salem."

Ruby nodded, and then began to animatedly chat with Cinder about what games they could play. The teenager in my other claw wasn't uncomfortable only because she was kept in my claw, but also because she had no idea just what she was supposed to do, or how she was supposed to treat the kid in my other claw. Deep down, she feared doing the wrong thing would mean her death, and she couldn't die, not until she got her revenge and slaughtered her village down to a cookie crisp.

Quite the nice mind, Cinder had.

I could see the resemblance with Salem.

Salem welcomed Cinder with open arms. Well, for a certain definition of open arms, and for a certain definition of welcome. Deep down, perhaps, Salem had expected me to kill Cinder, or to leave her to die. I hadn't, and so she merely nodded and deemed to speak with Cinder in private about just how difficult her training would be. I did not know what they talked of specifically, but I knew that at a certain point, Cinder began to hurt, and that blinding pain that she felt echoed through my skull and remained there, as a dull, throbbing ache of continuous pain and fear.

Well, whatever had been done to Cinder, I was glad it hadn't been done to Ruby.

The little kid was busy milking Miss Sheeples, since I'd be more than capable of gutting the sheep rather than get milk out of her. The creature was absentmindedly munching on hay, eyeing the absolute nothingness that was in front of her.

"Can I go play with Cinder now?" Ruby asked, her eyes wide as she placed the bucket away from Miss Sheeples, dragging it on the ground far off the grasp of the sheep.

"She is tired now," I said in answer. "Perhaps tomorrow."

Ruby pouted, but dutifully obeyed. She was a sweet kid. Well, as far as sweet kids could be. After putting her to bed for her nap, I ended up lurching through the hallways and into the kitchens, where I used my claws to chop an apple into fine slices, squeezing a couple of oranges for juice and finishing it all with a piece of firm, but still eatable, bread. Holding the tiny tray within my palm, I began the second part of my cold, calculating plan to outsmart the devilish entity who could read my mind, and thus outsmart me by sheer principle of self-outsmarting myself.

Yo dawg, I heard you liked cars, so we put a car inside your car inside your car that does car things!

I knocked at Cinder's door, and since the door kind-of opened by itself due to a lack of locks, I stepped inside a dusty room that had seen better use. The figure of Cinder was crouched in a fetal position upon her bed, the teenager holding on to her stomach as pain rolled off her in waves. She was definitely hurt, but more than that she was also determined to survive through it. I had an inkling of what Salem had done, and I did not like it one bit.

Cinder's eyes snapped open as she heard me, but then again, it would be difficult not to hear me walk. She didn't say a word as I did my best to grab the tray and leave it on the side of her bed. "Pain is the worst teacher there can be. Salem is pain." I lowered my head slightly. "Be careful. I will have your rooms cleaned." I felt my ears twitch. The sound of crackling Jellyfish told me the Grimm's version of butlers were on their way.

Cinder grit her teeth, but said nothing, closing her eyes once more. "I will keep you company until you are better," I hissed down, sitting down by the side of her bed. Also, I had to ensure the Jellyfish Grimm didn't do anything untoward with their filthy tentacles and grabby tendrils. Those damn things were perverted monstrosities born of the most sick and twisted of minds, and they shouldn't have been allowed in a show fit for all ages!

The tentacles came with dusters and small brooms, and as they began to clean the room, I waited patiently for them to be done. Cinder didn't open her eyes, choosing to try to fall asleep over suffering the dull aches and spasms of her body. Through the haze of her pain, through the aching of her joints and the dull throbbing thirst and hunger, there was also something else. There was grief, and sadness.

There was despair, to hatred turned.

I inwardly recoiled, and then shook my head firmly. One of the Jellyfishes brought forth a blanket which was slightly cleaner than the sheets Cinder was sleeping above, and as I quickly propped it over the teenager, I fixed the tray a bit further away just in case she'd toss and turn and make it tumble down. I then quietly found a spot to wait at, and did just that. Honestly, it was a kind of training of my abilities to detect dark thoughts. Cinder's grief was overpowering, but her despair had been hidden by her hatred.

There was a story behind it, and if I was feeling said story in the right way, then perhaps it was correct to say that I wouldn't be able to call Cinder wrong on her desires to wreak vengeance on her family. No, if it was anything like what I was feeling, I'd perhaps be the first to ask for strength from the devil to grasp my own justice. The problem was that once her revenge was completed, then she would become the husk of a woman who simply desired more power in an effort to have a purpose.

Or perhaps I was whitewashing her, and she truly was a cruel, vindictive ball of spite that simply wanted to watch the world burn while she danced beneath the ashes and upon the skeletons of the dead? As Minority report taught though, one shouldn't be guilty unless they actually commit the crime.

"What time...is it?" Cinder asked with a croak, before slowly standing up. "I—" a flash of remembrance, perhaps, a flash of pain soon to follow. She then steeled herself, the half-asleep state she was in disappearing as she schooled her features. I stood up in turn, and pointed at the snack I had prepared for her. "Did Salem order you to do this?"

"No," I replied gruffly. "Things are...complicated. I am neither Salem's equal, nor her servant." I shrugged. "I am Grimm, however." I eyed her. "Be careful with Salem."

Cinder grabbed hold of the orange juice, and as she drank it avidly, she then proceeded to chew through the apples. "Why's there a kid here? She's Salem's?" Already, thoughts of ingratiating the brat came to the forefront of the teenager's mind. I shook my head, and then extended my claw to recover the empty tray.

"They must have been horrible," I whispered, catching Cinder by surprise. "What kind of horrible things must you have suffered through to think it appropriate to use a child's trust for your benefit?" I stared straight into her widening eyes. "I am Grimm, Cinder. And so is Salem. Your deepest, darkest emotion are bared to us," I slowly neared my face to hers. "Remember that. Ruby's a sweet kid, but not Salem's. She's not mine either. Be nice to her."

"Or else what?" Cinder asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll bend you over my knee and slap your buttocks like you were a child," I replied nonchalantly, "Hatred is stronger when it is focused, Cinder. The less people you hate, the deeper the hatred you may feel for them."

Cinder stared at me briefly, "Are you...are you the one who's going to teach me how to become the strongest of them all?"

"That will be Salem," I answered. "The most I am willing to do is counsel, or if you wish to speak with someone who is neither a little child or a monster in human skin set on exterminating mankind, then I can do that too." I patted my chest with my right claw. "My name is Shade. It is nice to meet you, Cinder."

"A polite Grimm," Cinder snorted. "Now I've seen everything."

"I would not be so sure about that," Salem's voice cut through the room like a whip. She slowly walked inside, her hands clasped in front of her as she glared in Cinder's direction with enough loathing and anger to make me wonder just what exactly was going on. Cinder did her best to hastily stand up from the bed, only for a short gasp of pain to leave her throat. "You are awake. We may resume our lessons. Follow me, do not tarry."

Cinder quickly scampered behind Salem, and I sincerely hoped Salem wouldn't kill the girl. Yes, she was a teenager, and yes she had an unspoken fetish for burning the people of her village and her step-family alive apparently, but I was sure I could convince her to limit the extents of her anger to just her step-siblings and step-mother. Of course, this was only if Salem didn't interfere.

Was she angry because I had managed to get some few words in? Was she simply playing the part of the strict instructor with Cinder? Fight on Cinder. Fight on, and don't worry. I will teach you how to turn despair into hatred, hatred into productive writing, and writing into finding inner peace. Trust me and my four point program! I will lead you to victory over your emotions!

That night at dinner Cinder's pain was something I could feel, and also physically see. Whatever kind of training Salem was pushing on the girl, it was on the level of a psychopath. To think that if I hadn't been there to prepare food for Ruby, she'd be eating cup rice and ramen from rusty pipes...the thought made me sad.

"I made this for you!" Ruby said gingerly from her side of the table, pulling out a parchment that had a crude drawing of Cinder on it. Ruby's silver eyes shined as Cinder stared at the picture, and inwardly recoiled from a painful memory. I was starting to have quite the few half-ideas about Cinder's past, and drawing parallels with Cinderella's story.

"How nice of you, Ruby," Salem said with fake sweetness, and a fake smile. "Why don't you show Cinder around?" she added nonchalantly. The purpose behind the words was clear, but Ruby hadn't yet begun her training in Seeking the Meaning Underneath the Underneath and thus happily obliged.

Salem resumed eating her dark soup of evil, and as I had already finished mine, I waited.

I waited until Salem stood up, folded her hands together as was her habit, and walked to the large windows of the dining hall. The unspoken words were to near her, and I did, though merely because I was curious, and I knew that whatever Salem would tell me would be mixed with lies, but through those, I might find a bearable truth.

"Young Cinder was the only daughter of a good Hunter and a good woman," Salem spoke. "They grew her with love, and care, but it was Cinder's father who died." She glanced at me. "The tale of Cinderella, was it not? Indeed, inspiration is there, but not all. The mother remarried out of blind love to a man, a powerful man. Such a powerful man that indeed, he might have even ordered a hunter to hunt the impossible in his sake, just so he could grab the lovely wife."

"Stretching it a bit," I growled, but Salem shook her head.

"I have no need to stretch the truth. For reality is far more terrible than any fairy tale, and cruel, viciously so. The man had two sons, and they taught to young Cinder the meaning of the words pain, cruelly beating her day after day. Her mother saw, and yet greed corrupted her. Thus, she did nothing," Salem glanced at the spawning pools, where a Deathstalker rattled its tail to clean it of the grime, clacking its pincers as it began to trudge forward on the red sands. "Abandoned by all, young Cinder would have lived an unhappy, and brief, life. She was saved though, by her grandmother."

"Oh?" I quipped. "Really?" Yet, I couldn't shake off the bad feeling.

"Indeed," Salem nodded. "Unfortunately, the glimmer of hope died. The cruel tale of her murder was hushed, because if the viciousness had come to light, then the whole village would have been at risk of a Grimm attack." She gestured at the crimson sands beyond the glass, at the Grimm that prowled about uncaring and lost. "They were too late in getting Cinder back however," Salem said. "She had grown strong, tempered by her hatred and her desire for revenge. She ran. That was when you met her. Her pain is still fresh, her heart is still raw and bleeds." Salem turned to fully look at me. "It disgusts me. Mankind keeps disgusting me with each breath their collective self takes."

"Don't try to fake being a righteous crusader Salem, it doesn't stick," I growled back. "We both know you don't have emotions."

Salem's eyes blazed. "I do have emotions," she hissed. "I wish I hadn't, but I do," she grimaced. "Now little Cinder has come to me, hearing a fairy tale of a wicked witch granting powers to those who seek her out," I would have loved to blink, but I had no eyebrows. I wanted to blink! "And I have decided she has a use, thus she will serve." Salem stepped away from the glass, slowly circling around me as I kept my eyes on her. "Her desire is easy to fulfill," Salem continued. "But I will make her bleed for it."

I waited. There was a reason for her monologue, and I was sure it was a reason I was not going to like.

"Make no mistake. She is not coexisting with a symbiotic Grimm of sorts." She looked at me, reading through my thoughts and debunking my theories. "I simply took away her ability to have children in exchange for sparing her life, and afterwards, I have offered her training and power in exchange for her loyalty. She is, however, free to disappoint me and run away at any time. I will not pursue her, nor care." She began to walk out of the room, "but she is determined in having her revenge, and I have discovered that just as well as hope burns into the souls of men, so too does hatred, with quite the self-destructing tendencies too."

"Your point?" I growled.

"Nothing you do will change her," Salem replied. "Keep playing house with the silver-eyed child."

"If that was the case, you wouldn't bother telling me this," I retorted, slowly walking up to her. "You are a poor liar, Salem."

"I do not lie," Salem replied firmly, eyes burning. "Lying belongs to humans."

"Withholding the truth is lying, Salem," I pointed out as I walked past her. "I will do what I believe is right."

"Then your despair will be all the sweetest when you fail," Salem whispered, but I caught her words, and turned sharply to glare at her with eyes ablaze.

My thoughts went before my words, and as they did Salem's own eyes narrowed before I growled them out, "I'd rather take the despair of having failed, over the despair of never having tried."

"Then you are a fool," Salem murmured, but I had already left the room. I still heard her, but I was already heading straight for where Ruby and Cinder were currently enjoying what I could only describe as some form of sleepover party that involved playing with one's hair and doing small magic tricks involving disappearing thumbs and noses.

Salem, the name Shade is forever immortalized as belonging to a psychopath swinging a lightsaber across the multiverse.

What exactly were you expecting me to be? Sound of mind?