Chapter 49 – Sanctum: Field Trips

Cover Art: Mi Chumi

School is freaking awesome, Cinder thought. Five months of Sanctum Academy had been some of the best days of her life.

Well, most of the time.

Right now, she was having one of those moments when things were less than awesome.

"So, what do your parents do?" Her classmate seated across from her in the cafeteria asked. His name was Clay, and he was tall and lanky, and had entirely too much hair. Like, Cinder would have died for that sheer amount of hair two years ago. She had no idea how he could even see through all that hair, cause all she was really sure about was that his nose was really pointy.

But of course, the hair wasn't why things were less than awesome. The issue was the question. She hated that question, because it never stopped at that question, and there was a whole bunch of… junk… underneath the shell of the answers that she didn't really like thinking about or remembering.

So she tried the simple answer first. "I'm an orphan," Cinder replied flatly, golden-yellow eyes boring into where she assumed Clay's were behind that hair, trying to drive the point home. Leave it. Don't ask.

Cinder had long since stopped considering talking about that two-year period between the orphanage and Garek and Selene taking her in, even if it hadn't been risky to discuss. She just didn't see the point in talking about Madame. She wasn't a real mom anyway. Cinder felt her hand fiddling with Argent's necklace, at the scars that were barely visible along her collarbone, and forced herself to stop.

Hmph. What am I without you? Whatever the heck I wanna be, that's what. Stupid woman. Hope your hotel burns down. Cinder felt herself flinch. Not that I'd ever do that. Nope. Not me.

And of course, it was freaking Sarah, her Bestie, who ruined the simple answer. "Oh, don't let her fool you. She's got parents. Her dad's a Huntsman and her mom is… huh… what does your mom do?"

Cinder scowled at Sarah, who gave her an innocent look, so she huffed and adjusted her plan of attack based on Sarah's "help".

"Not really sure. Selene does a lot of meetings, I guess."

Clay nodded sagely, hair flopping back and forth. "She's a manager then. That's all they do is meetings. All day long."

For some reason, that idea bothered Cinder. A manager sounded boring. Selene wasn't boring. "She can spar, too. She's not a bad fighter. I don't think she's actually a manager."

And of course, one of the girls sitting nearby had been listening in, and had decided not to let the earlier comment just drop. "So, are they your parents or not?"

Cinder regarded the interloper. Candy was another first year, with super-curly blonde hair cut short and the sort of predatory expression that Cinder recognized from Madame's daughters. In short, a girl that liked to cause other people trouble. A girl who often got away with it by playing airhead around the adults, but Cinder wasn't fooled. Candy was also no pushover as a fighter, despite her waif-like build and sometimes vacant expression. There was a mean streak behind that goody-goody exterior.

Oh, she'd not found anyone at Sanctum who had her once-nominal step-sisters' penchant for physical cruelty. Not that it would matter here, because frankly, Cinder was one of the tougher kids in her class. She'd realized that within the first month when most of the other kids in her class had started groaning any time she was chosen as their sparring partner. That revelation had come as a pleasant shock.

I'm not weak. I'm not that poor kid any more. I'm a fighter.

The revelation had given her additional confidence.

And not all the kids groaned when assigned to spar with her. A few, like Sarah, seemed to thrive on testing themselves against her. And a few were able to best her, either because their fighting style wasn't something she'd trained against before, or just because they were that good. Cinder was okay with not being the best. At least for now. She just had to be good enough to protect her family and friends.

But some of her classmates had decided that Cinder was someone who needed to be taken down a peg or three. And if they couldn't do it physically… she suspected they'd decided to find some other kind of weakness to exploit. And her family was one of them, she'd wager.

Cinder sighed. "It's complicated, okay? They're my legal guardians."

"Oh. So, you really were an orphan?" Clay asked, tone sympathetic. That was… better than Candy's reaction, but she didn't like the idea of pity either.

"Yeah."

"Wow. Yeah, that happens. Parents killed by Grimm? Is that why you wanted to be a Huntress?"

Kids orphaned by Grimm attack wasn't an unusual story, but frankly Cinder didn't know how she ended up in the orphanage. "Dunno what happened to them. And I guess so? I mean, mostly I just didn't want to be dependent on anyone else I guess." She fiddled with the half-heart pendant some more, frowning at the answer she'd just given.

"Yeah, but Huntsmen work in teams, so you're gonna have to depend on me." Sarah countered, giving Cinder a look that said do not argue with me.

Cinder rolled her eyes and let her hand fall to the tabletop and rolled her eyes.

"How about your parents, then?" Clay asked, turning to Sarah, to Cinder's relief.

"Dad's a cop. Mom is in retail electronics."

"We don't talk about her aunt," Tomas quipped helpfully from the other side of Sarah.

"We do not talk about my aunt," Sarah agreed.

Cinder grinned. That was a defense mechanism. Sarah's aunt Raspberry Regalia was also their combat instructor, and had made it clear that any casual mention of her and Sarah's familial relationship at school within earshot would probably result in a 2-on-1 spar not in favor of the speaker.

Sarah had learned that the hard way, a month ago. One of the kids Cinder absolutely loathed had learned it the week after that, and had ended up getting absolutely thrashed by Cinder and Tomas, and then expressed his opinion of the whole thing in some not so nice words afterward and that got him detention.

"I just think it's sad that Cinder doesn't have actual parents. Don't they want to keep you?" Candy said with clearly mock sadness.

Cinder could only hope she'd get the chance to beat the crap out of her in the next combat class.

Sarah regarded Candy carefully. "They've got their reasons, I'm sure. They picked Cinder. I'm betting some other parents wish they could have picked their kids, too."

Dannggggg… Cinder couldn't help but smirk at the shock and then sheer outrage on Candy's face. It's good to have friends.

Things might have gotten tense, if Miss Regalia hadn't entered the cafeteria and wandered to the middle of the room before raising her voice to carry over the din of kids talking and eating.

"ATTENTION! Make sure you remind your parents or guardians that we will be doing a field trip outside Argus walls on Friday instead of your normal coursework. You should pack accordingly. Also, there will be a follow-up field trip in the city the following Friday, which will include a scavenger hunt." Thankfully that broke up all conversations, and Candy went in search of her own friend group to scheme for what they would do on Friday.

Field trips were great, because usually they'd split the kids into subgroups and drag a Fourth-year along to help supervise each group.

"Alright! A field trip!" Sarah whooped as soon as they'd left, slapping the tabletop.

"No maths!" Tomas added gleefully. "Did you hear that?! No maths!"

"We get it, Tommy. You hate maths," Cinder said, thankful to see the back of Candy.

"You would too, if you weren't such a weirdo," Tomas said, grinning. Cinder accepted that from Tomas. Tomas was 'good people' and could get away with teasing.

Candy, on the other hand, can eat a bag of Grimm.

It was Thursday in Combat Class and tomorrow was the field trip. Cinder found herself scanning the room, and realized how many empty seats there were. Their first year was about half over, and next month would be mid-terms, and the class had already lost ten students. Six had decided they just didn't like Combat School. Three had wanted to stay, but their parents had decided their special snowflakes should not be coming home battered and bruised every day. And one was in the hospital because he severely misjudged his ability to control thirteen-year-old Aura. He might actually come back once he healed.

And if what Cinder had been told was correct, they'd lose another dozen or so after mid-terms due to low test grades or poor combat evaluations.

That was just how things went. According to Sarah, who'd heard it from Miss Regalia, for every 100 students that started Combat School their first year, only about 25 of them made all four years and were accepted into Academy. The rest decided to do something else with their lives, and apparently did alright.

Cinder couldn't imagine that being alright at all. I'm gonna be a Huntress like da —like Garek. Yeah.

"Alright children, tomorrow we will be spending the day outside the city walls. For many of you, it will be your first time outside one of the most secure cities on Remnant. Who can tell me some concerns or considerations that we might have?"

"Duh. Grimm," one boy answered without raising his hand, for which he got a glare.

"Good answer, but raise your hand next time, Mr. Fleck. Can anyone tell me how likely we are to encounter dangerous Grimm?" Cinder raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Scoria"

"It depends on how far we go. There aren't many large Grimm near the city." Cinder knew that from experience, having travelled between Argus and Springhill and further multiple times with Garek and Selene by now.

"Good observation. Why is that, Miss Scoria?"

"Because we patrol the areas near the city?"

"And by we, who do you mean?"

"Um… well the Huntsmen? And other people?"

"And that's an important distinction. While Huntsmen are one line of defense, they are not the only line of defense. The walls are manned by both city militia and automated defenses. The Atlas Military patrols the nearby seas and monitors the air. And the nearby villages and towns also fall under our umbrella of protection. What you will find is that heavily traveled paths are often safe paths, because any interloping Grimm are quickly spotted and dealt with before their numbers can become an issue. Can anyone tell me an exception to this rule?" Next to Sarah, Tomas' hand shot up. "Yes Mr. Flint."

"If there's really negative emotions."

"Exactly. If there is widespread unrest or other negative emotions, then the density of population, instead of being a benefit, becomes a liability."

"Miss Regalia, is that why you are always smiling?" One of the boys, clearly sporting a desire for detention, tried to discover humor.

"Droll, Mr. Freeson. Quite droll. So, if we wanted to attract Grimm, but not a large number of them, what might we do, Mr. Freeson?" The boy started to squirm a bit upon being addressed for an actual answer, though her eyes were scanning the class, face stoney.

"Uhhh get someone mad?"

"Yes. Which is why, Mr. Freeson, you will be serving a detention after we return from the field trip. Your unhappiness during the field trip anticipating this will serve admirably."

The boy in question groaned.

The Field Trip outside the city turned out to be the most boring excursion Cinder had ever experienced.

Likely it had to do with the fact that in her thirteen years, she had experienced such excitements as being orphaned, being adopted, being physically and emotionally abused, being kidnapped (but in a good way) and smuggled across kingdom borders in a suitcase, numerous visits to the forests outside Argus, riding a Nevermore, dealing with Vernal, participating in a jailbreak in the Grimmlands, dealing with Vernal, fighting a freakishly powerful Apathy, visiting a Bandit Tribe, and dealing with Vernal.

When you look at it that way, I guess a School Field Trip with a bunch of kids who've never been outside Argus is gonna be a little dull, huh. She mentally shrugged. Oh well, to quote Tomas, at least there's no maths.

So far, all they'd seen were a small flock of juvenile Nevermore who had merely glared at the group from their perches among the treetops.

And that had been enough to set many of her classmates on edge, which Cinder found baffling.

"Why are they watching us?" Tomas hissed.

Cinder appraised him, came to a decision. "They're trying to figure out which one of us is the easiest prey. Then they'll report back to the Alpha, who'll come snatch them up."

Tomas' eyes got big as saucers.

"Oh. My. Gods. Tomas, she's full of crap." Sarah said in disbelief, and then punched Cinder in the arm. "Cinder stop freaking doing that."

"What?" Cinder replied, before she felt a finger poke her in the back. She glanced behind her to see their fourth-year minder, Rusty, giving her an eyeball. "Fine."

"If you'll all pay attention," Miss Regalia said loudly from the center of the mass of students. "We are going to begin actual instruction. Let us say that we were forced to spend the evening outside in this location. What are our considerations."

"Call my mom," one student said, deadpan.

"Very funny. Anyone else?"

"No seriously, ma'am. I have scroll signal here and my mom's a pilot."

Miss Regalia closed her eyes and counted to twenty. "Assuming you did not have communication, and it was much further away, what would your considerations be?" Sarah raised her hand. "Miss Tourmaline."

"I'd want to set up camp and assign people to keep watch."

"Ah. So, you would need to ensure you had proper camping gear. And how many people did you bring with you?"

"Uhh… well Huntsmen usually have teams of four. So… four?"

"Hmm… interesting. And why do you think Huntsmen use teams of four?"

"Because you want pairs, and it's a pair of pairs?"

"Then why not just two?"

This time Clay answered. "Because you wouldn't get enough sleep?"

"Excellent observation. With a team of four, you can watch in 2-hour shifts, and everyone can get 6 hours of sleep, which is the minimum you'd want to get over several days."

Something nagged at Cinder about the stories Garek had told her about him and Rhodes. "Miss Regalia, what about solo Huntsmen?"

"Another good question. The truth is, solo Huntsmen usually avoid camping out at all for that very reason, and instead operate as escorts for non-Huntsmen, or base themselves in a village, so that they do not have to sleep outdoors. Even with those precautions, I can tell you being a solo Huntsman is a very dangerous choice, and not one I would ever recommend." She eyed the grouping of students, broken into groups of about ten, each with a fourth-year. "So, today's exercise is to simulate an unexpected requirement to camp. You will each choose a location, and will create a mock campsite, based on whatever materials you happen to have with you, or can find nearby. Your fourth-year will not assist you, but will instead be monitoring for Grimm and ensuring you do not accidentally hurt yourselves."

"We gotta do what?" Clay muttered, sidling closer to Sarah and Tomas.

"Make a mock campsite. What you got?"

"Alright Firsties, make like rabbits. The faster you find a campsite and claim it, the faster you can get to work," Rusty encouraged them, turning his back and stalking off in a random direction. "Only requirement is that you be at least 100 yards away from any other group. You don't even have to be out of line of sight or earshot. Easy peasy. Come on chop chop."

Cinder sighed and fell in line with Sarah, Tomas, Clay, and four others following. Candy wasn't in their group, thank the gods. They made their way quickly away from Miss Regalia. "I'm gonna keep walking until one of you tells me to stop," Rusty warned. "Not doing your work for you."

Cinder cast her eyes around the landscape. This close to Argus, it was generally rolling meadow with a few boulders, some thickets and stands of trees. She could see the top of Argus' walls in the distance, not to mention the CCT relay on top of one of the flanking hills.

Hmm… boulders. "How about there?" She pointed at one boulder that was shaped like a teardrop on its side with one flat face.

"Why that one?"

Sarah spoke up. "Cause it's South-facing, so it'll have gotten sun all day. It'll be warmer at night. And it'll cut the wind. We can make a lean-to."

"Anything else?" Rusty asked.

One of the other kids piped up. "We can stand watch on top of it. Get a better view."

"Good call." Rusty ticked a few boxes on his scroll. "Get to work."

The next two hours were kind of fun. It turned out Clay had a multi-tool with a saw blade, so they could cut small limbs. And most of their bladed weapons, while not intended for that purpose, could also be used to cut and strip small branches without also removing fingers, though they'd have to be resharpened after. That, combined with some deadfall, allowed them to make the absolute crappiest looking shelter than any of them had ever seen. But it was their shelter. It wouldn't keep them dry, but it cut down on the wind a little.

Actually it was really crappy. But still.

"Alright, Firsties. You've got shelter." For a very liberal definition of shelter. "What now?"

"Food and water?"

"Good call. How?"

"I have a bow. I can hunt game," a boy answered. Cinder did too, but she'd never hunted animals with it before.

"Anyone got a cookpot?" The kids all looked at each other. "Didn't think so. How you gonna cook it nerd?"

"I have some fire dust. I can make a campfire." Tomas said brightly. "And we can use Ember's rapier as a spit."

"Over my dead body," the girl in question said, scowling at Tomas. "Make one out of wood."

"Won't it burn?"

"Nah, not before the meat's done," Clay answered. "I've cooked outdoors before. It'll be fine."

"What about water? Anybody thirsty?"

"I brought my canteen." Sarah said, "Cause hey, peeps get thirsty."

"Anyone not bring a canteen or a water bottle?" One hand went up sheepishly, and Rusty made another tick. "Alright, you get to pick a backwash-buddy. Do potatoes or flip a coin, I don't care, and it ain't gonna be me."

The boy who'd had the bow started to move away from the shelter, and Sarah called after him. "Hey, where you going?"

"Hunting?"

"Uh… first off, I don't think we're expected to actually hunt." She glanced at Rusty, who nodded. "And second, I don't think anyone goes off alone."

"Oh. Heh. Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry got carried away."

"Good call, Sarah." Rusty made another couple of ticks. "We're just going to talk through stuff like that, though you can go get water from the stream back there if you want."

"Uhh… what about germs?" Clay offered. "You gotta boil it or put purification tablets in it if you want to drink from a stream."

Huh. Looks like hair-boy has some skills, Cinder thought.

"Another good call. Well done." Rusty checked the time. "Tell you what, you kids relax for a bit. I'm gonna go see if Miss Regalia has anything like that. Back in a jiffy."

And with that, their minder wandered off back the way they'd come and out of sight.

Cinder felt something tickling at the back of her mind. Eight of them, all first years. Hanging out. In the woods. Rusty just walked off and didn't even look back.

I don't buy it.

This is a trick.

She grabbed Sarah. "We're about to get nailed."

Her friend frowned at her for a second, then her eyes widened and she looked around. "Crap. You're right." She raised her voice. "Alright screwheads, listen up. Cinder's Grimmy-Sense is acting up, and that means we need to be on guard."

"Who made you leader?"

"You wanna lead?"

"No."

"She did keep me from wandering off with my bow."

"I nominate Sarah," Tomas said, grinning.

"You're just trying to get her to go out with you."

"So?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Look, while we're arguing, people over the age of 13 are planning something. So either step up, or shut up and listen up." There was silence at that, though a couple of the other kids frowned. "Alright. Let's set a watch, just like we would if this was for-reals. How about two teams of two on watch, and the other four pretend to be doing campsite stuff. We rotate after thirty minutes so people don't get tired of staring at trees."

Cinder found herself impressed. Sarah's… bossy and strong-willed. I'm strong-willed, too, and I'm a better fighter, but I'm not bossy like Sarah. Sarah probably got it from her dad. He's like that too. He just takes charge in situations when other people were standing around.

Bet she'd be a good team leader.

It only took a couple minutes for them to post one pair of students on top of the boulder, and another pair keeping an eye on the denser thicket to their east. It made sense, because they could see two other teams of kids to the north and south, and west was back where Rusty had gone.

It was forty-five minutes and one shift-change later when the expected happened. Tomas and Cinder were on top of the boulder. Ember and Clay were watching the thicket. Sarah and Archer-boy were leaning against the boulder chatting earnestly about something and the other two were playing some game in the dirt that looked like tic-tac-toe, when the underbrush started to rustle and a black form erupted from the undergrowth.

"To arms! To arms! The leviathan emerges!" Tomas yelled as he leapt from the boulder.

The fight was over before it began, really.

Cinder managed to draw and release one arrow from Midnight while Ember and Clay closed ranks and withdrew toward the boulder. Within a few seconds, they were joined by everyone but the other archer, who was scrambling up the boulder to join Cinder. From the sounds to the north and south, similar scenarios were playing out at those locations, though she thought some of the yells might have been surprise or fear.

As Rusty emerged from the thicket, the black mannequin on a long pole held safely out in front of him, he was grinning broadly. "Well, I gotta say, that was pretty impressive for a bunch of Firsties. Although I'm not sure 'Grumly' here qualifies as a Leviathan." Tomas just shrugged with a lopsided smile on his face, panting slightly. "That said… why did you guys fall back instead of charging it?" He nodded toward the black blob on the end of the pole with two red dots for eyes and an arrow sticking out of where its mouth might have roughly been, then toward Clay and Ember.

"Uhh… well the idea was to protect each other, not just kill the Grimm, right?" Ember answered, scratching her cheek. "At least, that's what we talked about." She glanced back at Sarah. "We figured if we bunched up, we'd get better coverage, and hold out until reinforcements arrived."

"Good call. Better than running away or charging into an unknown foe. Also, you have two ranged fighters, and you can use them to nail it as it charges in. My only advice is for Tomas." The boy's eyebrows raised. "You did good raising the alarm, but I probably would have stuck with your archer. While they're doing their thing, somebody needs to watch their back."

Tomas' face fell slightly, then rallied. "Eh, Cinder can take care of herself. But yeah I get it."

"Not gonna argue with that." Rusty pulled out his scroll and began tapping. "Oh, and Cinder, full marks there for actually hitting Grumly and not me. That was pretty impressive.

Cinder grinned, feeling elated. It had been a good shot. "I was aiming for you," she snarked, and had the pleasure of hearing Sarah snort.

"Sure you were, Firstie. Sure you were."

The next Friday was the scavenger hunt inside Argus' city walls.

This time, they were split into smaller groups of four, and since it was inside Argus, they were not allowed to carry their weapons with them. That was fine, though because they did have their scrolls and Rusty was going to be their escort, and he did have a weapon.

And it started out really fun. They had a list of items and landmarks that they had to take photos of with their scrolls. It would require a lot of walking and public transportation, but they were confident they could manage them all. A swing hanging from a tree limb. A five-way intersection. A sign for a particular historical building.

Everything was going great, until the pickpocket hit them.

"Hey!" Clay complained when the man bumped into him.

"Sorry," the guy said, not even turning around and just maintaining speed as he stalked away, shoulders hunched.

It was a few seconds later that Clay started to freak out. "My scroll. My scroll is gone! Waitamnute! That guy took my scroll!" Clay's lanky frame was radiating disbelief and frustration, and then he realized he could still see the guy. "Hey you! Give me back my scroll!"

And with that, thirteen-year-old Clay bolted after the guy, who immediately sped up.

"Clay! Stop!" Rusty yelled, and then cursed and sped after him, yelling back over his shoulder. "Meet you at the next stop! Call if you have any trouble!"

And with that, Cinder, Sarah, and Tomas found themselves alone on an Argus street corner in the middle of the afternoon.

"Well crap."

"Clay's gonna get detention for sure," Tomas said sagely. "Running off like that."

"Should we chase after them?"

"Rusty said to go to the next stop. That's only two blocks away," Tomas said. "Besides, I can't keep up with you guys. You know that." It was true. Tomas was a savage fighter in close quarters, but he was a smaller kid and couldn't run as fast as Cinder and Sarah could.

"Fine. Let's get to it then," Sarah said, and headed off. Cinder only gave one glance back at where Rusty and Clay had run off before shaking her head and following her friend's lead.

They made it one block and found the alley where the next item was supposed to be. It was supposedly an abandoned Grimm-shelter, and they had to take a picture of the sign for it, graffiti and all. It should have been straightforward. It wasn't exactly a bad part of town.

But when they reached the alley, it wasn't empty. Instead, there were two people arguing when the kids rounded the corner, and they arrived just in time to see one of them punch the smaller one, knocking him off his feet. "And that's what you get for talking back. Get it?"

The three students looked at each other. Tomas gave his head a slight shake and started to back away.

But Cinder… something about the situation nagged at her. That bigger guy was a bully. And he was picking on the smaller guy, who was just laying on the ground now, looking at Big Guy with an expression that said he expected to get hit again, and couldn't do anything about it. Resigned.

Cinder hated that look.

She'd seen in it the mirror a lot, two years ago.

"Hey. What's the deal?" She heard someone say, and was shocked to realize it was her.

That got Bully-Boy's attention. He gave them a once-over. "Welll hello there kiddies. Why don't you mind your own business and skedaddle. Me and my friend here are having a personal chat." His clothes were worn and dirty-looking, but the guy had some muscle on him and didn't look starved. He had a blue bandanna tied around his upper arm. And his posture felt like he was someone who could fight.

And they were unarmed.

But surely Rusty'll be here soon. Maybe I can just stall until then.

Cinder pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "Looks to me like you suck at sign language."

Bully-Boy laughed, and it wasn't a nice laugh. His face twisted. "I think I get the point across. You wanna have an argument, short and skinny? I hope you're a fast talker."

"Cinder…"

"I got this," Cinder muttered. "Look, we're just a bunch of kids. You don't wanna beat up kids, right? Why don't you just lay off with the hitting and stuff, and we'll mind our own business."

Little-Dude on the ground was taking the opportunity to slowly ease his way backward away from Bully-Boy, giving Cinder a look of gratitude but also concern. And then his face went pale.

Behind Cinder, Tomas gave a muffled yelp.

"Looks like a party. Mind if I join?"

Cinder half-turned to see that another man, dressed similar to Bully-Boy with an identical blue bandana, was standing behind Tomas with one muscled arm wrapped around the small boy's neck. He had a scar running down the right side of his face. Tomas didn't look like he was in pain, but his face was pale. The man's other hand held a short club that looked like it had seen use.

"Let him go." Sarah growled at Scarface, hands balling into fists. Cinder felt her stomach drop.

"I ain't hurting him, little girl. Am I, kiddie?" Tomas gave a small shake of his head. "I just don't like seeing people interfering in family business. So what's the deal?"

Cinder and Sarah shared a look.

"Look, we don't want any trouble. We just saw that guy hitting someone, and asked him to stop. We aren't, like, calling the cops or anything." Sarah knew from stories her dad had told that threatening to call the police when she didn't even have her scroll out and one of their friends was in hand was a bad idea. These guys were probably just some local gang. They'd ignore a bunch of kids if they were given an out.

"Maybe so. Maybe so." Scarface continued. "And maybe we ought to teach you a lesson about sticking your noses where they don't belong? Nothing serious, just a few bruises to make sure you remember?" Bully-Boy had walked over to the side of the alley and grabbed a hefty looking stick, and was thwapping it into one hand with an unpleasant smile.

No. No way. No way am I gonna let people hurt me. Hurt my friends.

But I don't have a weapon.

. . .

No. That's not true.

Cinder felt heat start to build deep in her chest. She felt that draw, that urge, to let it flow to her hands. To hurt these men who were threatening her and her friends.

And she caught Sarah's glance, and saw her friend's eyes widen.

No. No. Not yet. She pushed the feeling back.

These men probably didn't even have Aura. And they weren't actually attacking her or Sarah. Scarface had Tomas, and the boy was scared, but he wasn't hurt either.

This wasn't like that time last year, when people had tried to kidnap her friends. These were just punks. And she wasn't supposed to use Scorching Caress like this. It wasn't the answer to every problem.

Cinder took a deep breath. "Look, guys. We're students, okay. Students at Sanctum. She emphasized the word. "You really don't want to mess us up, cause you'll have Huntsmen on your butts within hours."

That got a blink, and she saw Bully-Boy's stick-thwapping pause.

"Oh really?" Scarface said, slowly.

"Really," Sarah added, catching on. "And on top of that, my dad's a cop. You'd be asking for double-trouble."

"So what would you do if I said little man gets a boot up the ass on the way out, just to teach you all a lesson?" Cinder saw the man's grip loosen a little more.

"I'd say he probably deserves it for something, anyway." Sarah said with a smirk.

"Hey! Cinder's the one who got mouthy!"

Cinder thought about that. Could she just let this guy kick her in the butt? I mean, it's not like it would do any real damage, since she had Aura. But the whole idea just sucked. The guy was a bully. But they needed to get out of here.

"Nah, I don't hit girls unless they hit first."

"And besides," Rusty said, turning the corner with Clay's arm gripped firmly in on hand and a mace in the other. "I'd bust your skull for trying it."

Scarface gave a glance backward, and grinned. "Like to see you try, Rusty."

Wait. What?!

Rusty took out his scroll and made a few tick marks. "Looks like you guys did alright, except for Clay here who sucks for making me run twice as far as I'd intended."

There were a few more moments of silence before Tomas was the first to break it. "You… you… I almost peed my pants you jerk!"

"This was a setup!?" Sarah yelled in outrage.

Cinder felt herself get really really angry, and then not. And then she started laughing. "Of course it was. Just like the field trip. Geez, we're idiots."

Scarface let Tomas go, and laughingly blocked the smaller boy's attempt at punching him before reaching up and peeling the scar off his cheek. "You okay kid? Seriously, I tried to be gentle."

Cinder glanced back at the other two, to see Bully-Boy helping the other one up, both of them grinning and dusting off as well.

Well crap.

When they got back to Sanctum, with a stop for ice-cream to take the sting out of the whole thing, Cinder was pulled aside by Miss Regalia and Miss Plum for a private discussion. Cinder felt herself tense at their expressions. This was clearly important.

"So Cinder," Miss Regalia opened. "I am told that you had an encounter during your scavenger hunt."

Scavenger hunt. Encounter. Cinder bit down on the urge to snark back about what she thought about falling for what was a setup. "Yes, Miss Regalia."

"Could you tell us, in your words, what happened?"

She related how she had seen events from her perspective.

Miss Plum spoke next. "And did you, at any time, feel tempted to use your Semblance? After all, you were threatened, and unarmed."

Cinder's golden-yellow eyes flicked between the two adults. She considered lying. Reconsidered. "Yeah," she said finally, shoulders hunching. She could feel her scars itching.

"M'hm. And why is that?" Miss Plum continued.

"They were threatening my friends."

"And why didn't you?" Miss Regalia asked, eyes sharp.

Cinder fidgeted. "I didn't want to get into trouble? You said I shouldn't use it without permission."

Miss Regalia's eyes narrowed. "Is that the only reason? What if you could have done so, and no one would have seen you?"

Cinder thought about that, fidgeting with her pendant some more. "I… I… they were just bullies I figured. I was hoping we could talk our way out of it first. Or delay until Rusty got there. And we had Aura and they probably didn't. So if it turned into a fight, maybe we could get away anyway. It just… didn't seem like the right thing to do?"

"So," Miss Plum said smoothly. "You are saying that your Semblance would not have been a proportional response to the threat."

Proportional Response. Cinder frowned.

"It means that you apply the amount of force required based on the degree of the threat. You don't kill a Boarbatusk with an Atlesian Dreadnought," Miss Regalia supplied helpfully.

Cinder thought about that. "Yeah. That… that makes sense."

"We're glad to hear that. Because no, not everyone has to go through such an elaborate test in their first year. You understand? We needed to be sure that you were able to use good judgment under stress." Miss Plum smiled. "I hope you won't hold it against us."

Would she? If they'd asked her a few hours ago, she probably would have snarked back. But now that they'd explained it, and she'd had time to cool off? "No ma'am."

"Good. Because we will be reporting your successful completion to Headmaster Brand, along with our recommendation that you are fully in control of your use of Semblance."

Cinder's eyes widened. That meant… that meant no more Huntsman escort required around Argent. That meant…

Argent's mom was gonna go spare.

The thought filled Cinder with joy.

Three adult staff members sat before Headmaster Brand's desk.

"I still don't approve of putting her in that situation," Administrator Burke groused.

"Extreme Semblances require extreme care, and extreme measures. With her history, we had to put her under actual stress to see how she would react," Miss Regalia retorted, arms crossed. "We already had this out, and now it's done."

"Yeah but… terrifying her classmates like that. I had to write a letter to Tomas's parents apologizing."

"Meh, it's nothing compared to what they experience during a typical spar. The only difference was that they didn't know whether it would end in pain, or whether the attacker had Aura.

"I still don't approve. But as you say, it's done."

"So we're all in agreement on lifting her restrictions?" Brand asked. It was a formality really. They'd agreed beforehand, and she'd already told Cinder. It wasn't like they could back out now.

"While it's possible if the threat were greater she might fall back on it, I am convinced that she will do so with thought, rather than blindly lashing out, which was the concern." Regalia said, wishing to ensure everyone was clear on the realities. "Anyone who posed an actual threat to her or someone she cared about? She would likely be justified if she fell back on it in those situations."

"And you, Patricia?"

"She has control over her Semblance, that is for sure. And she's come a long way in five months. She's more dangerous than many children her age, but she's remarkably mature, too. I'm still in favor."

"Very well, I will draft the recommendation letter and have it sent to her guardians. Thank you all for your assistance and expertise in this unusual situation. And also ensure that our fourth-year, Mr. Rust, gets commendation for his role as well."

[A/N] Special thanks to my recent reviewers GreenEyesOrigamiDragon who apparently devoured all 48 chapters in less than a week(!), Shadowstorm-Vash for their continued lovely comments, my Guest reviewer who recognized Rashem from Relic(!), and of course AtomicR4y who always helps me resolve any questions about my approach! Your feedback keeps me inspired to chug along!

Another lighter chapter to show how Cinder has progressed in attitude over the half-year she's now spent at Sanctum, as well as rounding out some of her classmates a little. Hope you enjoyed. Next chapter will return to Patch to see how team STRQ are doing.

Also, this last week marked my Day of Jubilee as I passed 100 favs and 100 follows! Woohoo! It's been a long, slow slog to gain traction with an OC-centric story, but I'm glad those who take the plunge are finding it worth their while!

PS: It appears that FFN's email feature is again bugged out and is claiming things are being rejected as spam and nothing we do seems to fix it, so you are probably NOT getting email notifications of new chapters. But I consistently update on Sunday/Monday of each week, so check back around then to see the latest.