This one's for another supporter, Ale Scitan. Sorry this took so long, but least it's 2k. And it advances the story a bit. Not that I think can last much longer, but hey.

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For a long time, Cinder had lost all hope of ever escaping. No one cared for her. They knew it was wrong, a girl her age working herself like a slave, but none of them cared. Not even the Huntsmen. To them, it was easier to just turn their heads and pretend nothing was wrong. After all, what did they have to gain by helping an orphan and earning the ire of the madame?

Which was why she'd been in such disbelief when Mr. Jaune and Ms. Pyrrha came to her aid. For a moment, she thought perhaps that she'd been dreaming again. Just another fantasy about being saved from her horrible life. She'd dreamt up dozens of scenarios. Sometimes she ran, sometimes a Huntsman would save her, and at others she'd broken free of her chains and killed her owners.

Because that was what they were. Owners. The madame put up a smiling front about how they'd saved her from being an orphan in Mistral, but honestly, she would've taken her chances there. Maybe it would've been worse, but that was a risk she was willing to take.

Cinder had been practically catatonic when her two saviors dragged her out. Even after they assured her that they had friends of their own, she couldn't help but worry. The Madame had connections too. Many of the upper class frequented the Glass Unicorn and the Madame had made...well, not friends, but people who owed her a few favors. It wasn't just apathy that drove the Huntsmen to ignore her plight.

"Shh, it's all going to be okay now," Ms. Pyrrha said as she led her to a diner. The smell of greasy meet in the air reminded her of just how hungry she was. The Glass Unicorn had five star cuisine and yet she had to make do with the scraps of whatever she was given. Her stomach rumbled impatiently at the notion of being filled and Cinder blushed, "You must be starving. Come, let's get some food in you."

"Thank you..." Cinder nodded, cheeks still flushed, and sat across the two on a corner booth. She'd never gone into one of these places. She saw them, of course. Shopping was one of her many tasks and she passed by numerous places like this. She could never linger, however. The Madame imposed a strict time limit on her 'outside hours'. Even a single minute late and she'd get shocked.

"Get anything you want, Cinder. I'm gonna make a call to that friend I mentioned," Mr. Jaune said with a smile.

She'd tried to get the cheapest thing on the menu - just some eggs and toast - but Ms. Pyrrha saw her reluctance and insisted that she not hold back. Cinder didn't want to argue and got a few more things on the menu. Pancakes, crispy bacon, even some dessert. It was the most food she'd had in years.

It was embarassing to admit, but she'd completely pigged out. She didn't grab it with her bare hands like a kid, but she definitely stuffed her face. Ms. Pyrrha just smiled as she ate her own food, "It's going to be okay now," she said again. Cinder had lost count of how often she repeated it, but she appreciated it all the same, "Those three won't be able to hurt you anymore."

"I'm...I'm still worried."

"Don't be. Trust me, they're going to pay for what they've done."

Things moved quickly after that. The Madame and her daughters used every contact they had and tried to frame. Mr. Jaune and Ms. Pyrrha out as deranged Huntsmen that kidnapped their adopted child. If it was anyone else, it would've been a guaranteed win. Huntsmen were admired, true, but many didn't have the connections of the Madame. They would've gotten arrested and Cinder 'saved' from her so-called kidnappers.

Except Mr. Jaune and Ms. Pyrrha knew Weiss Schnee. The head of the SDC. Cinder remembered her eyes bugging out when Mr. Jaune just casually admitted that. The CEO was all too happy to help and the vaunted connections the Madame called for help were quick to abandon her. Those that didn't found themselves punished alongside her. The Madame was jailed, and while her daughters avoided any imprisonment due to their age, the Glass Unicorn was foreclosed and they were forced to actually earn their living. Last Cinder saw them, the two were working retail jobs and living in a small apartment.

It wasn't the punishment they deserved, but Cinder did her best to move past it. She wanted the two of them to suffer like their mom, but she wouldn't waste her life hating them. She had a second chance now, and she wasn't going to waste it.

True to their word, Ms. Pyrrha and Mr. Jaune started teaching her on how to be a Huntress. The lessons weren't easy, not by a longshot. Other people her age would've been enrolled in a combat school, but she'd refused their offers to be enrolled in one. Maybe it was sad of her, but she didn't want to leave them. They were the only ones who cared for her as long as she could remember. Even before the Madame, the orphanage she was raised in had been...cruel. They'd pawned her off as a slave without a second thought.

Perhaps one day she'd come back and see what became of it...

Months passed and Cinder had kept to the training. Ms. Pyrrha and Mr. Jaune were kind but they didn't hesitate to push her to her limits. Cinder accepted it all gladly. It was difficult, and even after they unlocked her Aura there were nights were she felt like it was agony as her muscles tore and healed themselves. She needed it to become stronger, however, and so she took it without complaint.

"Keep going, Cinder!" Ms. Pyrrha called out.

"Right!" She split Midnight from a bow into dual blades and crouched down in a combat stance. She'd trained enough that they were letting her fight a beowolf for the first time. Ms. Pyrrha was close by to help in case anything happened, but Cinder vowed to herself that nothing would. She refused to be a helpless little girl again and she was going to make them proud.

Cinder took down the beowolf in a little over a minute. That might've sounded impressive, but she'd heard of Huntsmen students who could take them out in a single blow. Apparently, Ms. Rose had done just that when she was Cinder's age. She tried not to let it bother her. She'd started later than most and she was already progressing along nicely. She'd catch up to her peers soon enough.

"That's amazing, Cinder! I'm so proud of you!" Ms. Pyrrha clapped.

Cinder grinned proudly as she sheathed the shortswords and answered before she could stop herself, "Thanks, mom!"

A moment of silence settled over the clearing. Pyrrha's eyes widened while Cinder gasped. Shit...shit! Ugh, her and her big mouth! "Wait, that's not what I..." Cinder trailed off. She suddenly remembered when she'd made the mistake of calling the Madame that. The woman had sneered and shocked her so harshly that she almost passed out. She was not her mother, she said. She was the Madame to her, and she shouldn't forget it.

"Do you...like calling me that, Cinder?" Ms. Pyrrha said slowly.

"I...I think so." Cinder nodded nervously, "But I won't if you don't want to!"

"I do. Of course I do!" Cinder almost passed out at the response. She did? "Actually, that's something me and Jaune wanted to discuss with you. While your awful excuse for a 'family' did wrong by you, we did take you without really thinking about what came next. You're no longer under their family registry, of course, but that means you're..." An orphan again, she didn't say, "Well...me and Jaune were talking and...what would you think about us adopting you?"

Cinder's felt like the air had been sucked out of her lungs. Adopt her? "As in...be an actual family?" she asked.

"Only if you want."

"...Yes." Nothing more needed to be said. Cinder stepped forward and hugged Ms. Pyrrha...mom in a tight embrace. This was...she didn't know how to describe it. For so long, she thought that all she had in her life was nothing but a future as a slave. Now she was free and she had a family.

"It's okay, Cinder." Mom hummed and rubbed circles along the small of he rback, "Come on, let's go back home. Jaune will be so happy to hear the news."

Two years passed and Cinder only grew stronger. As much as she wanted to stay with her mom and dad, she knew that she wasn't experienced enough to keep up with them on their hunts. She needed training, and while the both of them were willing to put their lives on hold for a few more years to get her up snuff, she refused. As much as she wanted to stay with them, she didn't want to be a burden.

One day, she'd stand at their side as an equal.

Getting the training meant going to a Huntsman Academy, which there were four choices of. Atlas was a no-go. She didn't care if the rest of Atlas society wasn't as corrupt or decadent; she refused to go back no matter what. That entire island could burn for all she cared. Mistral too. If she was ever stepping foot back into that place, it was when she was a full-fledged Huntress.

That left either Vale or Vacuo. It wasn't difficult to choose the former. Vacuo was a...harsh place. They tended to breed the hardiest of Huntsmen, but also the meanest. Vale seemed more her speed, and she couldn't deny that she liked the idea of exploring the city on her weekends.

It helped that Mom and Dad said they graduated from there too. Them and all of their friends. She only met them a few times, but they were nice. Especially Ms. Ruby. Ms. Yang offered to take her drinking once she was of age. She said it would've been sooner but Mom and Dad would've killed her if she tried to take their daughter out for a bender before she was 20.

Passing the exam was easy enough. Almost too easy, actually, but she chalked that up to Mom and Dad's training. There was still the Initiation on the first day, of course, but she was far less worried about that now that she had a foot in the door.

She remembered hugging both her parents tight before the Bullhead ride. Some people might've thought it was embarassing to do something like that at her age, but she didn't care.

"Promise to call us whenever you can, okay?" Dad said.

"Definitely."

"I hope you make good friends, Cinder. A partnership in Beacon can last a lifetime." Mom smiled.

"Yeah, yeah." Cinder rolled her eyes and huffed lightly.

Initiation ended up being propelled to the Emerald Forest and partnering with whoeever you made eye-contact with first. Apparently, it was a Beacon tradition. It was weird, but she'd take it over some clinical test watched over by the teachers. Her landing strategy left her swinging from branches and landing in a clearing. Heh. Too easy.

Footsteps from behind drew her attention and she looked back to see a white-haired woman with deep blue eyes, "...Winter?" Cinder smirked. She heard that Ms. Weiss' little sister was also going to Beacon, but she didn't think they'd meet so soon, "I guess we're partners."

"So it seems, Cinder," Winter smiled back before unsheathing her sword. The two of them could already hear the growles of the beowolves drawing closer, "Looks like we've got some company. Are you ready?"

"Always." Cinder unsheathed Midnight and grinned as the Grimm charged towards them. The next four years were going to be interesting.

Cinder Arc-Nikos is at Beacon and partnered with Winter. Wonder how she'll do. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this one.

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