Disclaimer:The following is a non-profit fan story. RWBY and Bionicle are owned By Rooster Teeth and Lego respectively and are the respective intellectual property of Monty Oum and Christian Faber, respectively. Please support the official release.
There are problems that most don't know about. Problems that require a delicate hand. The Order believes these problems be dealt with in secret for the common good. We, on the other hand, believe that such solutions are necessary and so we too lend our aide to handle these solutions. That is… for the right price.
Ask anyone and they will tell you they'll pay anything to get a solution they want. The Huntsmen may think they are the protectors of the people but even they can be bought. The Shadowed One knows from experience. He even took in a few poor souls and made them among the greatest in our enterprise. It's not pretty but, in this world, everyone has their price.
And for one individual, that price will reap a greater profit for her than she could ever imagine.
She just had to reach the airship. Once she snuck onboard, she was home free. It had only been a few days since she was freed but it came at a cost. If only he'd known the pain they caused her. She didn't want to hurt him. She wanted more than anything for him to understand. He saw them hurt her, torture her, abuse and mock her. Yet he didn't side with her when she fought against the monsters that made her life a living hell for eight years? What reason did he have to criticize her for doing what she did? Still, she didn't want to hurt him. The madam and her daughters deserved to die, yes but not him. He was her one ray of hope. The only person she could truly call her father. Now, he was gone.
To make matters worse the news had found out what happened at the hotel she was stuck at. If she recalled, it was bound to happen once she remembered she left the entrance to her "room" open. On top of that Madame was still alive. Even so, she was arrested soon after and was arrested for the abuse. The girl sighed.
If only they got there sooner she lamented in thought.
The girl then continued to her target, a small passenger ship with enough space for her to sneak through the back. All she had to do was blend in with the crowd. She decided to shadow an individual with a most unusual body type. He had what appeared to be three legs and wore a large brown coat. As they approached, she just had to shake him and then get to the back once inside.
Getting on the ship was easy enough as tickets weren't checked until they got onboard. The hard part was getting down into storage. She then immediately broke off from her ticket to ride and began to make her way down to her next destination.
After getting past the passengers, she made her way down a ladder to the next floor. Once there she heard footsteps approaching and behind a series of nearby pipes.
"Aww man, does this place reek." one guard complained.
"Hey, at least we don't have to worry about all of those bratty passengers." said the other.
The two guards began to recall past experiences with difficult passengers and laughed as they continued on and none the wiser about their stow away. She then got down and continued down. On her way she found a small bucket with water. She grabbed it and took it with her. It would be far more valuable to her than the guy cleaning the ship. She had a weapon but she didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary.
As she traveled, the girl had this uneasy feeling that she was being followed. She turned around but saw no one. Were the twins back? Had they somehow survived and found out about what she was going to do? She didn't know but someone was there. She knew it. The girl continued her journey to the storage room and soon arrived at the door. It had an electric lock that required a key card to access so, the girl did what she believed was the smart thing. She hid nearby to follow someone in. Soon, someone did come in, it was the strange Faunus from earlier. He had somehow gotten his hand on a card and swiped it and unlocked the door. He then slowly entered the door and dropped the card behind him as the door closed. The girl walked over to pick it up and looked to her left, no one was there. She looked to her right, no one. She stared at the door. Then, hesitantly, she swiped the key card on the lock and she too unlocked the door. The door opened and she stepped inside.
The girl took one step forward but was quickly grabbed by the collar and hoisted into the air by a silver claw as water splashed onto the floor. The eyes of the man that she followed glowed red with anger and annoyance. In fear, the girl used her semblance to superheat the bottom of the buck and threw it in his face. He did not flinch but instead slowly closed his eyes and dropped her nonchalantly.
The girl then used her semblance and turned the water on the ground to steam and cloud the man's vision. He did not move as the girl dashed left and right before trying to attack him again. This resulted in her face meeting the head of a staff he pulled out from his coat. She fell to the ground on her back. She recovered quickly to block a blow from her new opponent's staff. With every strike he sent her way, she parried and blocked each one. With every jab, she dodged using the training her late teacher had taught her. Still, it was not enough. Eventually, he swiped the back of his staff at her legs causing her to fall and drop her weapon. The figure then pointed the bladed edge of his staff at her throat.
This was it. This is how she died. She closed her eyes tightly hoping the pain would be brief. Except, she felt nothing. She peaked open one of her eyes and saw the figure holding out a three fingered claw.
She was uncertain but he did not rescind his hand. Hesitantly, she took his claw of a hand and he pulled her up. The figure's eyes glowed red as he looked at the door. Suddenly, a pair of laser beams fired from his eyes and heated the part of the door with the lock. He then returned his attention to her
"You have some skill, young one. Though I expected you to not win, I was surprised at how well you fight and at such a young age." he said.
"Thanks?" she said.
"Tell me, who trained you?" he asked.
The girl held her arm and looked to the side.
The silence that followed was brief but poignant. Then, she spoke.
"A friend of mine." she said.
"I see, given your level of skill, he was no doubt a veteran Huntsman." he said.
The girl gave a small smile.
"Still it needs work. You react to situations. You don't go for the kill. I counted five ways you could have ended this with my death and yet, you didn't take the advantage. If this had been a real fight, you would be dead." he criticized.
The girl gained a worried irritation at this and was about to turn around and grab her sword but the man spoke again.
"However, I believe we can work on that. Like I said, you have some skill. Skill that can be refined and perfected but most importantly, you have a desire to get stronger. That desire is not something I find often in either Humans or Faunus. So, I offer a proposal. When we leave this airship, how would you like to accompany me to the headquarters of my organization? There, my associates can help you perfect your fighting style and make you into a powerful force to be reckoned with. What say you?" the figure asked.
The girl was quiet and turned her face away to cover it with her ashen black hair as she thought. The idea of becoming strong and powerful was enticing. It even made her excited. There was so much she could even do with whatever power she got. In addition, she could finish what she started with Madame. Her still being alive was a problem and could even allow her to cause the same pain and torment she experienced. She wanted to make sure that her solution to stopping Madame's abuse was permanent and while she proved she was stronger when they last met, she wanted to make sure that Madame wouldn't question it. She wanted to see her face fall with the same misery and hopelessness that she inflicted on her and took it with her to keep her warm.
She then turned with determined, amber colored eyes and looked back. Instead of a coat she now saw a being with three legs and a black and yellow, biomechanical body with silver armor on his chest with his free claw stretched out and open. She approached him and shook his hand. The being smiled.
"Good, then I believe introductions are in order. Would you kindly please tell me your name?" the being said.
She looked the being in the eyes with the ambition plastered on her face.
"Cinder Fall" answered the girl.
"A pleasure to meet you, Cinder." the being said.
"As for me, I have no name. Not since I took my position of leadership." the being replied.
"Then, what do people call you? Cinder asked
The being gave a serious look but still carried his smile as he spoke the next three words.
"The Shadowed One" he answered.
In loving Memory of TheShadowedOne1
1994 – 2022
A/N: Well everyone, a bit of a surprise post. No opening note, just the disclaimer. This was something I wanted to do at the start of the year. When I heard about the death of Nathan AKA TheShadowedOne1 from Shade2800 on YouTube, to say that I was shocked would be an understatement. The man was an absolute legend in the BioTube community with the likes of the Takadox and Pridak Show, Phantoka, Makuta, Salvation, and finally my favorite series he ever created: Reign of Mesodax. The man most certainly left his mark and even did a series of top 10 lists on various aspects of Bionicle from villains to heroes, to tragic characters to selfless characters. You name it, he did it when it came to Bionicle. So, this story is somewhat in a way the origin story to Cinder for the Shattered Legends continuity but also my way of honoring the legacy of one of BioTube's absolute best content creators of all time and while it will focus primarily on Cinder, I hope to do his favorite character, The Shadowed One, justice. Rest in Peace ShadowedOne1, hope to meet you in person someday.
One thing to note before we go, you may have noticed the M rating on this particular fanfic. Well, that's because this is a darker story. We're focusing on one of RWBY's most iconic and polarizing characters and I want to do her and the Dark Hunters justice so I had to go beyond the normal T rating for certain themes in this story.
Anyways, that's all. Please Read and Review and God bless you and live life to the fullest.