Chapter 35: Argus - Sanctum First Day of School

[A/N: Apologies that this chapter took longer to publish than usual. I actually wrote a different one first, and realized I wanted to alternate locations, so I had to set it aside and write a second chapter from scratch and had no idea what exactly I wanted to cover next. So it took a bit. Also, my dog mistook my thumb for a sock she was shredding, and the resulting trip the clinic and clumpy bandage slowed my typing down a bit, lol. But enough about my woes, off we go!

Cinder was having the best day of her entire life. And that was in a string of best days that had started four months prior and included being rescued from tortured slavery, realizing she wouldn't be hurt for making mistakes, being able to openly spar with Garek and Selene, seeing Rhodes in Argus for the first time, getting her own room with her own bed, and convincing Argent's mom to let them be together.

I mean… you gotta be a pretty awesome day to compete with all that.

And it was. Cinder was sitting in a seat of a streetcar, next to one of her best friends, Sarah Tourmaline. Selene had agreed to let them ride it to school on their first day, and they were both wearing their school uniforms that consisted of a white button-down blouse with a rich burgundy combat skirt and matching jacket with gold accents, and a patterned tie to go along with it, along with thigh-high stockings. The shoes were meh, but whatever.

We look like sisters! At least she thought so. And we look awesome!

There were a few other kids on the streetcar with similar uniforms except the boys wore trousers except one who was wearing a matching kilt. Most were clearly older than them and must have been further on, and seemed to be studiously ignoring them, though one seemed to be smiling wistfully.

There were three other kids, though, who were clearly young and just as nervous as they were. One was sitting across the aisle from them. Cinder and Sarah's eyes met, and Cinder turned to her left. "Hey."

"Um... hi," the raven-haired boy said shyly.

"Your first year too?" Cinder asked happily. He nodded.

"Don't sweat it," Sarah said. "It's gonna be awesome." She looked him over. He seemed kinda thin. "Got your aura unlocked?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Cool. My aunt unlocked mine, and Cinder has hers too. And she-" Cinder pinched Sarah's thigh. "Ow!" She rubbed the spot, and glared at Cinder, "Uh… Cinder's already been training with a Huntsman. She's freaking awesome." Sorry, she mouthed to Cinder.

"Wow… that's so cool. I… I just did a few lessons with a trainer, and a couple tournaments."

"Well don't you worry about it. The Combat Instructor is my aunt, and she'll have us all whipped into shape in no time!" Sarah replied helpfully.

The boy's eyes grew large and his mouth went into an O shape. "Your aunt is Ms. Regalia…." He said in awe.

Cinder suddenly felt like they were the center of attention. She looked around and the other kids that were within earshot were looking at Sarah with something akin to awe or fear. Uh oh… Sarah appeared oblivious, though. "Oh yeah, she's pretty hardcore, but she's a big softie."

"Maybe if you're family…" one of the older girls muttered.

"Sarah… might not wanna… talk about that…" Cinder wasn't sure, but she felt like this was veering into dangerous territory. She wasn't the best at expressing it, but she had developed a sixth sense for avoiding trouble from adults. She fingered the half-heart through her blouse. "I mean," Cinder paused. "She's gonna be our teacher. People might think… you'll get special treatment."

Sarah blinked at her, then snorted. "Are you kidding? She'd never do that. She nearly broke dad's arm cause he asked her to take it easy on me." She shook her head. "More like I'm gonna get beat up more cause she don't wanna show favoritism." The ends of her mouth turned down. "That doesn't seem fair to me."

The only thing that soured it all, just a little, was the fact that Argent and Laurel weren't here. They weren't… like that. They didn't want to learn to fight and use aura. They didn't even have theirs unlocked and didn't want to unlock it.

Cinder was starting to realize that meant they wouldn't be together all the time. They'd have a different school and she and Sarah would have Sanctum.

But… Garek is a Huntsman, and Selene isn't, and they're together. And Pete didn't even do an apprenticeship, and Sophia is an Engineer, and they're together. People don't have to do the same things to be together-together.

It'll be fine.

One of the older girls, with short curly brown hair and dark eyes, had moved up to an empty seat right in front of Cinder and turned around to face Sarah. "So… your aunt really is Raspy Regalia?"

"Uhh, yeah," Sarah made a face. "Is that what they call her at school?"

The older girl smirked. "Not to her face they don't. Less they want detention during free hour and a note sent home to their parents." She stuck out her hand over the back of the seat. "I'm Magenta. Magenta Sparks. I'm starting my third year." That puts her at around fifteen, which made her really mature, thought Cinder.

Sarah took her hand, "Sarah Tourmaline. And this is my bestie, Cinder Scoria."

"Nice to meet you two."

Cinder nodded and then looked at the boy across the aisle. "What's your name?"

"Oh… I'm Tomas. Tomas Flint," the boy added, then looked terrified at the attention.

"Well, it's good to meet you too," Magenta added. "Since you're all riding the street car, I guess that means you aren't staying on campus." Cinder's head tilted, questioning. "Oh… yeah, some kids come from too far away to go home during the week, or they're orphans and on the Program."

That hit a little close to home… but it also made her eyes narrow. If there was a program for orphans, why didn't Rhodes… oh right. She felt her hands ball into fists. Rhodes couldn't have put her in that program, because she'd not been an orphan, not legally. And now she didn't need it. She had Selene and Garek. They were… well they weren't quite her parents, but they were sort of like her parents. She was starting to realize that was how she thought of them.

Would they want me to be their daughter?

Selene kept telling her… and other people, that they were family, she'd even told Raechel… Argent's mom, that Cinder was her daughter.. So …. I wonder why they don't just adopt me?

She'd have to think about that one. Maybe ask Selene later.

"….. and Cinder saved us from these creepy guys that-" Cinder realized she'd missed the first part of the conversation, and hoped Sarah hadn't forgotten about not talking about Cinder's Semblance. She'd have to corner her and remind her that was a secret, again."

"Sarah… you don't have to tell everyone about that."

"What… that you're this awesome fighter?"

Oh… so that's the story we're going with? 'I'm not that awesome. And they didn't even have aura."

"True, but still."

"It's still impressive," Magenta said, nodding in agreement with Sarah. "Most kids your age aren't trained enough to stand up to an adult, even with aura. They'd just get pinned down and beat up until it broke." The girl had a slightly pained look. "So… don't sell yourself short, Cinder." She glanced forward, then nodded to Sarah. "Nice to meet you guys. Coming up on our stop."

Wow… Magenta was a third year, and she's complimenting me. Cinder glanced over at Tomas, who was looking at her with a certain amount of awe. That feels… pretty good. I guess it was awesome. Though… nobody explained this time that it was her Semblance that she'd used.

But I can fight. I could have fought them off. Rhodes and Garek trained me. At least… I think I could have.

But she'd find out soon. She just knew it.

They exited the streetcar and found themselves in a small crowd working its way through the gate. The Administrator, Mr. Burke, was there holding a sign that told all the new students to gather in the courtyard behind him. It was a largish group, from Cinder's point of view. There were at least fifty kids! They were all looking sharp in their uniforms. Cinder realized that some were clearly there with friends, like her and Sarah. Others stood alone, but didn't seem to mind. A couple were looking around coolly, like they already owned the place. She'd seen that look before, back at the Unicorn, and it caused an ugly feeling that made her palms itch. She fought it down.

And then there were the others, the ones that looked lost and nervous… or worse. Cinder knew that look too. She used to see it in the mirrors at the Unicorn.

She looked over at Tomas, and saw a little of it there, too.

Well… I can… I can do something about that. She caught his eye, and smiled, and motioned with her head, letting her bangs flip over her left eye in the process. He gave a surprised smile, and sidled over closer to Cinder and Sarah. "You're with us."

Sarah gave Cinder a strange look, but shrugged. "I guess we have room," She glared at him. "just don't get any ideas. Cinder's got a Gee Eff."

"A what?"

"A girlfriend," Sarah explained. "Got a half-heart pendant and everything."

"Ohhhhh," He looked around warily. "Well… I wasn't… I mean… I'm just glad to not be standing alone… so, cool?"

"Cool," Cinder said, then grinned evilly. "Sarah doesn't have a boyfriend though."

Sarah gasped and punched her friend in the shoulder. "Jerk! After everything I did for you!"

"What do I know?! Maybe you want a boyfriend!"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Plenty of time for that. Maybe one of the second years will sweep me off my feet."

They were interrupted by Mr. Burke. "ALL RIGHT CHILDREN!" The group slowly quieted. "Now, I know that some of you have brought your personal weapons, hopefully properly secured as instructed to your parents and/or guardians. We will be collecting those, and storing them in the campus armory, since you will only be allowed to use them under careful supervision." There were a few complaints and mutters at that. Cinder frowned. "But you will have opportunity to spar with them, during combat class, though you will also learn unarmed combat and other improvisational fighting methods. Your combat instructor, Ms. Regalia, will be more than happy to fill you all in on that. After you have turned in your weapon cases over there," he pointed to side table, where Ms. Regalia stood with a stern expression, "you will proceed to the auditorium where Headmaster Brand will address you, and then you will be broken into groups and escorted to your classes by some of the older students, who will be your guides during this first week. Any questions? Good." He hadn't even waited for them, and Cinder had a ton of questions! She huffed internally, but then gave it up. There'd be plenty of time.

They followed Mr. Burke dutifully through a set of double doors to a large high-ceilinged room. The center of the room was an open floor, but Cinder could see the tell-tale signs that portions of the floor could lift or lower, and bet that the area doubled as some sort of sparring arena. Tiered seating ran along three of the four walls. Mr. Burke motioned that they should sit along the front rows of one of the longer walls, in front of where Headmaster Brand stood before a wheeled podium.

The kilted Headmaster tapped a microphone as the kids found their seats with minimal grumbling. Cinder could also see about a half dozen older students standing off by one of the other exits to the building. She didn't recognize any of them.

"Good morning, new students!" There was a pause. "I said, GOOD MORNING NEW STUDENTS," he repeated, more loudly, but smiling. A good half of the room managed a response that time. "Well… I suppose that will do for a first round." He laughed, looking at Burke with a wink. "Congratulations all of you! You are entering one of the best pre-academy training programs in Mistral, your first step in becoming heroes and heroines of Remnant… the respected Huntsman and Huntress. Now," he waved his hands, "not all of you will choose that profession. Some will take their training and apply it in other ways. Some will decide this training is not for you, and others will enter the tournament circuit. That is nothing to be ashamed of. Our goal is to help you succeed in whatever vocation you eventually choose, providing a broad range of skills beyond just combat against Grimm."

There were some groans at that. It appeared a few of the students knew what that entailed, and were not looking forward to it.

"You will be divided into two groups, with alternating class schedules. Group A will have non-combat classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and combat classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Group B the reverse." Sarah and Cinder stared at each other in horror at the possibility of being split up. "And, you will find, we will shuffle groups each semester, so you will be exposed to all of your classmates." And now it was both better and worse, because it meant if they were, it would likely be temporary, but it was almost a guarantee that they would be split up at some point. Gaaaahh!

"And Fridays will be large-class format with both groups attending, focused on more lecture-based topics. Which you WILL be expected to stay awake for." Another laugh, but with a dangerous edge to it. "Now! If you will check your student badge, you will find a letter A or B on the back, followed by a number 1 through 4. You will note there are numbers on the floor to my left and right. Group A will stand next to the numbers on my left, and group B to my right. Please calmly stand and begin walking toward your spots."

Cinder turned her badge over with a shaking hand, and found her letter was B1, and with some trepidation turned to see Sarah doing the same. "B4…" Sarah breathed, "same group, at least for the first semester. Thank gods." Cinder could only nod. She hadn't realized how heavily she'd been leaning on Sarah's presence until there'd been the risk of not having her in her classes!

"Oh wow! I'm in B also!" Tomas said from Sarah's right. He had a B1, which meant he was in the same group and number as Cinder.

They began to stand and work their way to Brand's right. There were only about six students per group, and she gave Sarah a quick hug before they split to their separate numbers, and found one of the older students with a badge showing B1 on it walking up.

"Alright noobs! My name is Rusty and I'll be your guide for your next week, to make sure you don't get lost and that you make it to classes on time, every time." He mock glowered at them. "And I get graded on how well that happens, and I do NOT intend to get a bad grade. So, you little munchkins are gonna listen to me. Clear?"

Tomas was nodding his head desperately, along with most of the other kids in her group, but Cinder felt her eyes narrow. I mean… sure we are supposed to listen, and that's fine. But you don't have to be a jerk about it.

"Is there a problem, Miss… he glanced down at her badge. "Scoria?"

Uh oh. Face betrayal. "No… sir?"

He laughed. "You don't have to call me sir. You can just call me Rusty."

"But… you called me Miss Scoria…"

"Sorry, bad habit that I picked up from the teachers." He sighed. "Look, don't worry, it's all gonna be fine. And after the week, I'll be your go-to person for anything you need or any questions. You'll only go to a teacher if you are in class, or if I can't answer your question. Clear?"

"Okay." That sounded better. Maybe he was just trying to make sure everyone understood.

"Alright, here are your class schedules, along with room numbers and a basic campus map." He handed those out. "Today and Wednesday you'll have Combat-related classes: First Grimm Studies, then Aura & Semblance in the morning, then lunch, then Weapons and Tactics in the afternoon, which includes sparring" He raised his hands "But probably not your first week!

"Tomorrow and Thursday, you'll have Grimm Studies and Outdoor Skills in the morning which will eventually have field visits, and History, Business, and Government in the afternoon."

"Fridays will be," Rusty shuddered and several of her fellow students joined him, "Maths, Science, Reading, and Writing." He leaned closer. "Usually those get broken into study groups anyway when you aren't just listening to the teacher drone on."

Cinder didn't see what the issue was, really. She'd gone from the orphanage where she barely had books to borrow, to the Unicorn where she'd had almost nothing to read or learn other than how to clean a room or spar, to Garek and Selene teaching her anything she wanted and buying her any book that caught her eye. The idea of disliking learning seems… freaking weird. She shrugged.

"Alright everyone, let's head to our first class. Note it on your maps and follow along as we go, so you can get there on your own next week. First stop, Grimm Studies!"

Grimm Studies turned out to be a neat class. There were posters of dozens and dozens of types of Grimm on the walls, most of which she'd never even heard of. She felt her eyes drawn immediately to one of a large Nevermore, wings flung forward driving sharp-edged wingfeathers toward the ground and mouth open wide in an aggressive threat display.

She tried to imagine Blackfeather doing something like that, and came up wanting to giggle, and caught Sarah looking at her. "Uhhh what's so funny?"

"Oh… nothing…"

Most of the first class was just going over what they would learn, and handing out books. They'd be expected to take notes on their scrolls.

"Are there any questions?" Mr. Willow asked. One of the students she didn't recognize raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Mint."

"Sir, will we be fighting any of the Grimm you mentioned?"

Mr. Mint smiled, "Not for several years, young man. You will be spending the first year learning theory and the basics of combat and defense, and your field trips will be heavily supervised and in relatively safe areas outside but near the walls of Argus. You should not be expected, nor should you be placed in a situation, where you have to fight Grimm for your first two years at least."

"Oh. Thank you, sir."

"Any others?" To everyone's surprise, including hers, Cinder raised her hand. "Miss Scoria."

"Sir, you said that all Grimm are dangerous, and attack humans on sight. Is that… is that always true?"

Their teacher nodded. "It is accepted fact that, if a Grimm notices a person," he emphasized the word, "whether human or faunus, they will attack that person." He tilted his head. "Now, there are exceptions. Older, more powerful Grimm have been known to use strategy, and will retreat if outnumbered, only attacking if they see advantage. Is that what you meant?"

"I… I'm not sure."

"Well, we'll have an entire semester to explore Grimm behavior, young lady, so I hope you'll find your question answered by the end."

After that class, they headed to another room down the hall. Sarah, Cinder, and Tomas managed to sit together this time, having a better idea what to expect.

"Hello everyone! I am your instructor, Mrs. Plum. I will be teaching you and training you on practical aura manipulation, both offensive and defensive." Her voice fell to an almost solemn tone. "I will also be unlocking the aura of any student who has not yet done so. It is an honor to be able perform this service for you." Several of the students smiled and murmured in appreciative awe. "And we will also be learning about Semblances. Do any of you have your Semblances unlocked? Do NOT inform the class what your Semblance is, that can be a private affair."

Cinder slowly and reluctantly raised her hand, but Sarah was nodding at her encouragingly. She looked around the room to see four other students had their hands up as well.

"Look around, students, this is typical for a first year class. Often, Semblances unlock during times of stress or danger, which hopefully most of you have not experienced. But you should expect that continued practice and use of aura, especially during afternoon sparring as you progress, will cause more of you to unlock your Semblances. Do not be disappointed if yours does not. I know of at least two Huntsmen whose Semblances only appeared after they received their licenses!" She beamed at the class.

"Again, I want to emphasize, NO ONE should be discussing their Semblances, nor should they be using them without specific permission from me and from your Combat Instructor, Ms. Regalia. Do you understand?" She had addressed the entire class, but also locked eyes one at a time with each of the five with unlocked Semblances, and Cinder felt like Mrs. Plum's eyes lingered longest on her. She shivered slightly.

The rest of that class was, as before, an explanation of what would be covered. Some of the students asked questions at the end, and then it was time for lunch.

"Hey Cinder," Rusty nudged her, "Mrs. Plum asked you to stay for a few minutes. She'll show you where the cafeteria is. I'll make sure you've got a tray waiting for you, and Tomas will save you a seat."

"I… okay… thanks."

She suspected she knew what this would be about. Ok. Here it goes. Deep breaths.

Mrs. Plum looked up as Cinder approached. "Ah, young Ms. Scoria. Headmaster Brand gave me a… full briefing about your Semblance."

"Yes ma'am?" Cinder felt her shoulders trying to hunch, and cursed internally.

"Oh don't fret, young lady. You're not in trouble." But her face was grave. "I just want to emphasize, for your own safety, that you absolutely must not use your Semblance until we have had some time to discuss it further, and provide you some one-on-one training."

"One-on-one training?"

"Theres normally a free period at the end of the day, where the student can play or do homework. I will ask that you spend those with me or Ms. Regalia, until we are confident that you have a full understanding and control of your Semblance. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Excellent." She leaned in, and laid a hand on one of Cinder's. "Young lady, you have a particularly powerful Semblance, and many of your classmates do not even have aura unlocked. A mistake could be devastating both to them physically, and to your own sense of self. But I believe, with training, you can also be a devastatingly powerful Huntress, capable of protecting both civilians, and your Teammates, against the most dire threats you might face." She leaned back, "How does that sound?"

Cinder felt an odd mix of emotions. Fear that she might mess up, a fear similar to when she had worked at the Unicorn. She didn't know what kind of punishment would be meted out, but she feared one possible punishment… and it wasn't pain. Pain she could deal with. Her fear was of being kicked out. And disappointing Selene and Garek.

But warring with that fear, was what else Mrs. Plum had said. A Huntress. A powerful Huntress. One who could protect her Teammates… and she assumed her family and friends. No one would be able to hurt them, once she was a Huntress. She was sure of it. The thought made her feel suddenly extremely calm and safe, like she'd been carrying a fear she hadn't realized.

"That sounds wonderful, ma'am."

"Call me Mrs. Plum"

"Yes Mrs. Plum. Thank you, Mrs. Plum."

The woman smiled. "Great. Come on, let's get you back to your friends, and fed."

After lunch, Weapons and Tactics was… underwhelming at first?

Ms. Regalia, Sarah's aunt Raspberry, wasn't a bad teacher. That wasn't it. It was just… Cinder had been thinking along the lines of what Rhodes and Garek had done with her, just sparring and hands-on lessons. The idea of just talking about weapon types, mechashift theory, combat styles, and tactics seemed… less interesting.

Until one of the students had raised their hand, and asked about the benefits of daggers versus a sword, and Ms. Regalia had pulled up two comparison videos, and had them watch them side-by-side, with her providing a running commentary on the pros and cons, weaknesses and strengths, of each weapon.

And then she'd launched into a follow up explanation of the importance of matching a weapon not only with the person's build and strengths, but also regarding what she'd called a symbi-something about how Huntsmen's weapons reinforced their skills and the other way around. She seemed to realize she had gone over some of their heads.

"When a young person picks up their first weapon, they aren't yet locked in to a particular fighting style, but there comes a point… where they've trained with that weapon, and optimized their fighting style with it, that switching to another weapon becomes not only problematic, but could cost them their life in a fight if they react as if it were something else. And this does not even take into account the influence of a Semblance. Can someone give me an example of a Semblance, for example, that would make wielding daggers preferable to a mace?

One student raised their hand. "Yes, Miss Gris," Ms. Regalia said.

"If they had a Semblance that allowed them to hide or slip in closely. Like… if they could be invisible."

"Exactly. Having a Semblance that favors subtlety generally does not favor a brute-force weapon. Very good."

Cinder felt her eyes widen. That was… important. Her Semblance allowed her to make a grappling attack turn deadly, but also she could hurl fire at enemies. She should… think about how she would use her physical weapons with that. Did it make sense to use two swords at the same time? Or should she keep one hand free?

Could she… add fire to her weapons?

Her head spun as a universe of possibility opened.

"I know that look," Sarah whispered beside her, grinning.

"Miss Tourmaline! This is your first and only warning."

"Eep! Sorry, Ms. Regalia."

Holy crap… Cinder thought, her aunt doesn't cut her any slack.

It was free period.

For everyone but Cinder.

And as much as the idea of learning how to use her Semblance sounded awesome, watching Sarah head outside with Tomas kinda sucked.

She consulted the map and memory, and found her way back to Mrs. Plum's classroom.

"Ah, Miss Scoria," the purple-haired teacher smiled. "It's that time, is it? Good." She stood. "Come with me." Soon she was led from the class areas to a stone-walled building half-set in the cliffside behind the school. They found Mrs. Regalia waiting inside for them, in a large, open room with thick masonry walls and scorch marks on pretty much every surface, including ceiling and floor. A wooden crate sat beside her on a wheeled hand-cart.

"This," Mrs. Regalia motioned, "is a space Mrs. Plum and I had specifically designed for some of our more… destructive Semblances." She pulled a metal bar out of the crate, and affixed some sort of dial to one end. "We both have read the reports of what your Semblance is capable of, young lady, so we're first going to get some idea of its limits." She held out the bar. "I want you to hold one end of this bar, you can let the other end rest on the floor if it's too heavy. We're going to measure the heat transfer through it to understand how fast you can produce heat with… what was it you called it?"

Cinder tried to hold the bar, which was thicker than three fingers. It was too heavy for her slight limbs to manage it for more than a few seconds, so she let the other end drop. "Scorching Caress, ma'am."

"Right. Whenever you are ready."

Cinder stared at the bar, and felt suddenly shy. She'd never done this in front of people, on demand, before. It had always been in private, or she'd been angry.

Angry… maybe she needed. She frowned, closed her eyes, and imagined… imagined someone trying to take Argent away from her. Or… or hurting Sarah. Or… or her family. She felt a hot feeling in her chest, and it migrated quickly to her hands.

Mrs. Plum whistled as the hardware dial on the bar jerked clockwise and almost immediately pegged itself at maximum. There was a wet sound, and Cinder opened her eyes to find molten steel dripping through her fingers as the semi-liquid remains of the bar had separated just past her fingers and fell to the ground with a splat, glowing almost white-hot. She glanced up, suddenly afraid of what she would see.

Both teachers had stepped back, but she didn't see any fear in their eyes.

"It's fine, young lady. Just a bit on the warm side. You don't feel the heat, of course."

"I can… I can feel it. But it doesn't burn… it's… warm. It feels nice." She thought. "Like a warm bath."

Mrs. Regalia laughed. "As well it might. And a good thing of course. It's rare that a person is at risk of harm from their own Semblance, but not unheard of." She looked at Mrs. Plum. "Well, that was a bit out of our measuring range. So metal won't last long." She walked over to the crate, and pulled out a brick. "I understand you can also do masonry. I suspect it's mostly the silica content. Let's try this one." She gave Mrs. Plum a look. "We'll have to get some new temperature measuring instruments for you, I think."

Cinder took the brick in both hands, and licked her lips. This was… familiar but it felt okay. She still used that memory trick, thinking of those men, who had tried to hurt Argent, and within seconds she held her hands cupped around a hot, yellow puddle of slag. The heat made strange waves in the air above it, and the smell of scorched earth wafted off it. She looked at the two adults, and their faces would have looked devilish in the radiant light, had they not been smiling and nodding approvingly. "Very good, Miss Scoria. Very nice."

Mrs. Plum spoke next. "Okay, can you cool things that you've heated?" Cinder looked from her to the puddle. Huh… can I? "Or more importantly can you shape objects that you're heating?"

"I… I don't know, ma'am."

"Well, we'll have time to find that out, too. You're doing wonderfully," Mrs. Plum said. "We'll also be working on fine control, to see if you can heat things to very specific temperatures at a controlled rate rather than just pour heat into them at a constant rate and then stop.

Cinder felt… warm and comfortable and safe. She was doing her trick, right here in front of them, and they weren't upset or scared or looking at her like she was a freak.

Good girl.

Yes. Yes I am.

"If you can't cool that, you can set it down over next to… the puddle of iron and bits that used to be our temperature sensor."

"Sorry Mrs. Plum."

"No worries, dear."

Finally, Mrs. Regalia produced something wrapped in paper. "Let's try this one." She unwrapped what appeared to be a ham, and placed it on the floor, and stuck a meat thermometer in it. "Grab it over on this side."

Cinder blinked. It was a cooked ham, but… it felt weird to grab meat. She squared her shoulders, and nodded. Okay. She put her hands where they'd indicated, and tried to bring up that feeling again. It came more easily this time, like it usually did when she was alone, not requiring that strong emotion to trigger it. There was the sound of sizzling flesh and Cinder felt her mouth salivate as the smell of cooking ham wafted up… then she sneezed when I turned to the smell of char.

Burning flesh.

Screams.

Screams and screams.

Cinder stumbled backward falling on her behind, mouth open and gasping. Eyes full of terror at what she would see.

"Easy there, young lady. Deep breaths." There was a hand rubbing her back, and another gently squeezing her arm. Cinder looked to her left and right to find both women apparently unharmed. The ham had a huge black char across it where her hand had been, but there wasn't any screaming. Unless it had been her screaming.

That sounded… bad…

"Sorry about that. We wanted to see how it interacted with flesh, but," Mrs. Plum coughed, "we apparently didn't consider that the smell might trigger some unwanted memories."

"I… I… I hurt them."

"That's what we were told. Yes."

"I didn't feel bad about it."

"I suspect you do, in some way, and that's fine. But you're alright. You're here at Sanctum, where it's safe to practice your Semblance, here in this space. Just keep concentrating on your breathing. Patricia, can you turn the ventilation up a bit? Might help."

"I'm… I'm sorry I messed up." Cinder felt the edges of a sob creeping up her throat, and she fingered her neck, and found the pendant and chain there, through her blouse. It felt... reassuring.

"On the contrary, Cinder," she started at the use of her name, "you did exactly as we asked. And I have personal reason not to judge you harshly." She glanced back at Mrs. Plum, fiddling with the controls on the other side of the room. "You saved those other children's lives that night. It could have as easily been Sarah on the ground instead of Laurel. So as an aunt, and a Huntress, I am very aware of what your Semblance represents. Power. Power to be used and controlled. To be used for good or for ill. It is your choice which that becomes. You can protect your family and friends against the Grimm and other evils, or you can use it selfishly." She gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Of course, we hope to teach you to use it wisely, for the former."

Cinder nodded, eyes wide.

Yes. I'll use it to protect. Protect my family. My friends. That way I won't be… I won't be bad.

"Well, I think that our hour is almost up," She stood, brushing off her trousers, and helped Cinder up. "You may recover the rest of your free period, and join your friends. Thank you, Miss Scoria." She nodded to Mrs. Plum, who had returned as well, and they shooed her out.

"Well… that was certainly an eye-opener," Patricia grumbled. "As gruesome as the police report was, I feel they may have downplayed the savagery of what must have occurred."

"Very likely," Rasp replied, "I can't imagine the police wanted to terrify everyone. We shall have our work cut out for us." She rubbed her upper arm, which was still reddening. "I'm glad to see she had a negative reaction to the smell of burning flesh. It shows that despite her apparent lack of regret, there are some negative emotions associated with what she did. That bodes well. Come, let us go get some ointment for my arm, and your hand."

[A/N: I hope you enjoyed our first foray into pre-academy Combat School. There's very little canon-wise to go off of, so almost all of this came out of my own twisted ideas about how things would go, including the class titles and schedule. All of the staff and students at the school are my OC creations.

And so we learn how they intend to both probe the capabilities of Cinder's Semblance, help her learn to control it, and also it seems they are already doing some psychological poking and prodding to see what her moral compass looks like. But really, can you blame them?

One must wonder what will happen the first time Cinder, or gods forbid Sarah, is bullied. One might wonder.

Oh, and Sarah having her aura unlocked is not a discontinuity from the night when they were attacked. My intent was that it unlocked as the result of the trauma, but she didn't have any real control over it and didn't really realize. I opted not to be explicit about that since this chapter was already pretty long.

Next chapter we will be returning back to Menagerie! It's already drafted, so shouldn't take as long as this one to publish.