The Way of the Maiden

by The Court of Talons

The world of Remnant is notable for warriors such as Huntsmen and Huntresses. It is also notable for the Mandalorians, groups of mysterious and nomadic warriors just as ruthless as the Grimm. This is the story of one particular Mandalorian, and how a chance encounter with a child leads to the adventure of a lifetime.

33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: The Mission

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie, formerly known as Mandalore!"

Bartholomew Oobleck quickly pointed to a specific island on the map behind him. The students in front of him were either watching him move quickly across the room or trying to take notes. But given the pace he was moving and talking, the task was easier said than done.

"Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events!" the excited teacher declared. "Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"

One student suddenly raised his hand and spoke. "Professor Oobleck-"

Oobleck flew across the room once more, specifically to his desk. "Doctor Oobleck," he reminded the student. "And no, I'm afraid I cannot slow down!" He reached for a thermos on his desk and began to drink the coffee inside.

"But Doctor..." the student continued. "We're out of time."

Oobleck spit his coffee in surprise before looking at the clock on the room's wall. "Indeed we are!" he said as he looked back to the students. "Very well! Pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next class! Now, run along."

The body of students began to pack their notebooks and pencils, preparing to leave. One student, however, moved towards Oobleck's desk.

"Excuse me, Doctor Oobleck?" she said as the teacher quickly turned around. "I have an excuse note from Viola. Something with her family, I think." She placed the note on the crowded desk, which was picked up by Oobleck.

"Hmmm..." the doctor mumbled as he read the note.

"Is... there a problem, sir?"

Oobleck quickly put the note in his pocket. "No!" he quickly said. "No problem at all! Thank you, Natasha! Run along."

The student silently obeyed and began to make her way to the exit. Oobleck didn't join her, as he took out two pieces of paper from his pockets. He was looking at two notes from two students from two different teams, both of them explaining an absence from class.

The length of time, however, seemed to be indefinite. And the notes seemed very similar in nature. And Oobleck's gut was telling him that something was wrong about this situation.

And it got even stranger when Oobleck received a message from Professor Ozpin, asking him to come to his office.

Oobleck was able to make the trip from his classroom to Ozpin's office in record time. When the elevator door opened, Oobleck moved as quick as ever into the office. "Professor Ozpin, I must speak with-!"

*BAM*

Ooobleck fell to the floor when he hit something made of metal. Quickly looking back up, he saw Din Djarin lowering a hand to him. "Mr. Djarin!" he quickly said as he took the hand and stood up. "My most sincere apologies! I wasn't aware you were here as well!"

"Ozpin called most of the staff," the Mandalorian explained. "He thinks you'd want to hear this." Turning around, Djarin was looking at Professors Goodwitch and Port, who were standing close to Ozpin's desk.

"Thank you all for coming," said the Headmaster. "Each of you came to me at certain times this week and brought the same problem. Of a sudden drop in attendance from our students."

"Yes, yes, I received this note from the leader of Team NAVY this morning!" Oobleck said as he reached for the note he kept in his pocket. "And just yesterday, I received a similar note from a member of Team BRGT!"

"I too received notice of an apparent excused absence," said Professor Port. "It was penned and signed by a team leader, who stated a family emergency needed his attention."

"I recall seeing your note, Peter," said Ozpin. "But I'm afraid that its contents were not true."

Port and Oobleck shared a quick eye glance at each other, wondering the same thing. "What do you mean, sir?"

"After Glynda brought my attention to this situation, I decided to check in on one of the students' families. I believe it was the earliest recorded absence, am I mistaken, Glynda?"

"No, sir," said Glynda. "Amelia was the first student."

"What did her family say?" asked Professor Port.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug before giving his answer. "When I explained the note Glynda received to her father, Mr. Browning told me his daughter isn't home. She hasn't been home ever since she left for Beacon."

Both professors had the same surprised look on their faces when Ozpin delivered the news. The idea of their students lying to them was a first, it was almost like children skipping school to do something they enjoyed. But this kind of attitude wasn't expected of Huntsmen or Huntresses; in fact, one could consider the idea quite disgraceful.

But Doctor Oobleck was able to find something else about the situation that troubled him.

"Forgive me for sounding bold, Glynda, but... you don't seem very surprised by this," said the eccentric professor. He then turned to the Mandalorian. "You're usually the first to ask the right questions, Mr. Djarin. Have you none now?"

"I did ask the right questions," the Mandalorian declared. "I was one of the first to learn about all this, and Ozpin let me investigate further."

"Did you find anything?"

"Something. It's hard to believe, but it's true."

Oobleck and Port shared another glance before they nodded. "Very well," said Oobleck. "Tell us what happened."

---

Yesterday

Djarin was sitting in an empty classroom. His only company was his daughter and a friend she recently made, Lilith Gelb. While Cinder was standing by Djarin's side, Lilith was sitting in front of the Mandalorian. The room's silence was broken when Djarin leaned forward and asked a question.

"Let me get this straight," he said. "The night before your teammate left, you were coming back from a meeting with your club."

"Yes, that's right," Lilith confirmed. "It was dark in the halls, so I used the light on my Scroll."

"And then you came to your door, and saw... something."

"That's right." Lilith moved forward. "It was dark, and it moved right underneath my door."

"It went... under your closed door."

"Right, right! It was in the hall for a second, and under the door the next moment."

"And when you opened the door, none of your teammates noticed it."

"Nobody saw anything! They were asleep, and Andrea left with a note for us the next morning!"

Djarin leaned back in his chair before asking one last question. "And... what exactly did you say... you saw?"

Lilith sighed as she ran a hand through her yellow hair. "Professor Djarin, I know this sounds crazy. I normally don't believe in this kind of stuff but I swear... I saw the Walrider."

"The what?"

Before Lilith could explain more, Cinder put her hand up. "I can explain from here, Lily," she said. "And trust me, I don't think you're crazy."

"Thanks. I should get going."

Lilith got up from her seat and began to walk over to the doorway. Once she realized she was alone, she turned back to Cinder, who nodded in an attempt to show that everything would be fine. Once her friend was gone, Cinder turned back to Djarin.

"She's not crazy, Dad," she said calmly. "And I think she's telling the truth. Do you?"

"Maybe I would," Djarin said. "If I knew what she was talking about."

Cinder pulled out her Scroll and showed Djarin an image of a black figure, faceless and apparently floating. "This is the Walrider. It's from a video game kids my age would play. I actually played it once, you're in an insane asylum full of-"

"Never mind that," the Mandalorian requested. "So you're telling me this thing is fake?"

"Well, yes and no." Cinder pressed a few buttons on her Scroll and continued to talk. "The Walrider's fake, but the inspiration is real. Because according to this website, it was inspired by The Grimm Child."

Djarin stood up but didn't break his gaze at Cinder. "Why does that sound familiar?" he asked.

"Because it was from my fairy tale book, the one I gave to the other Foundlings. It's a story about a Chill."

"You mean the rare Grimm?"

"Uh-huh."

"But... a Grimm in Beacon? That's close to impossible."

"That's what I thought too. So either Lily was having a bad dream, or she actually saw something. Now, I don't want to jump to conclusions-"

"But we can't rule anything out either." Djarin began moving towards the doorway. "Come on, let's go talk to Ozpin."

Cinder quickly obeyed and began to walk towards Beacon Tower. It was starting to get dark, but the clan of two wasn't in a hurry. So they casually walked to the tower and talked about Cinder's time as a student.

But Djarin stopped walking when he came into view of the faculty dorms.

"Dad, are you okay?" Cinder asked, following his gaze to the windows of the building.

"Take my hand," Djarin ordered. "We need to go to my room."

"Your room? What for?"

"When I left, I turned off my lights."

Djarin pointed to a window on the building, which showed light coming out of it. Looking back at Cinder, he saw her nod and take his hand. In an instant, they were in the hallway that led to his room. Cinder's eyes began to burn as Djarin took out his pistol. They began to slowly walk towards the door, where light could be seen on the bottom of the entrance.

And hints of something moving could be heard.

"Someone's inside," Cinder whispered as fire began to burn in her hand. "What are they doing?"

"I don't know," Djarin replied honestly. "Let's find out."

He slowly reached for the doorknob and began to turn it. Cinder formed a knife in her hand to prepare herself, but still planned to use her Maiden powers. But as soon as Djarin turned the knob halfway, the sounds disappeared. The lights suddenly went out, causing Djarin to slam his door open.

"Drop it!" Cinder yelled as she moved into the doorway, expecting to find someone with a weapon.

But they instead found a body on the floor, unarmed and unmoving.

Djarin quickly turned the lights back on and moved the body. He quickly moved his hand back and began to shake it. Cinder looked for any signs of another intruder or anything missing, but she didn't see anything. So she looked back to Djarin, who was staring at his hand.

"Did you burn yourself?" Cinder asked.

"No," Djarin replied slowly. "He's... cold." Djarin touched the body again, feeling the same coldness. But this time, he turned the body over to see its face. And he saw a boy's pale face with dark veins and dark eyeholes, which caught him off guard. Cinder gasped as she dropped her knife, disturbed by the body's appearance. Djarin placed two fingers on the teenager's neck before turning back to Cinder. "He's dead."

Before Cinder could ask what could have done this, she felt a growing cold spot on her heel. Looking down, she saw what looked like a black hand from under the bed reaching for her. Just before it could take hold, Cinder screamed and jumped away from the bed. Looking back, she saw the hand move out from under the bed, along with a black body. Djarin quickly moved in front of her and faced the black shape, which resembled a person and was floating in the air.

Djarin quickly fired his blaster at the approaching creature, but the red blasts only passed through the torso. It began to move closer to the Mandalorians, scaring both of them. Cinder saw her father's Amban rifle next to her, and desperately picked it up and fired it at the Grimm. But the blast missed its head and disintegrated a picture hanging over the bed.

Suddenly, the shape stopped moving and turned its head to see what had happened. After a few seconds, it quickly moved out the door and down the hallway. Djarin and Cinder quickly looked at each other in confusion. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"The rifle," he said. "Cinder, my rifle!"

Cinder quickly handed the gun to her father, who gave chase and followed the cold using the thermal vision in his helmet. But as soon as he reached the end of the hallway, he saw a cold, open window. The creature had escaped.

Cinder ran down the hallway and saw her father looking out the window. "Did you get it?" she asked.

"No," Djarin sadly replied. "It got away." He closed the window and turned back to Cinder. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did it touch you?"

"No."

Djarin quickly pressed a button on his gauntlet to make a blue screen appear. After a few rings, Djarin spoke. "Ozpin, we have a situation."

---

Present-day

"By God," Port exclaimed. "Is Cinder-?"

"She's fine," the Mandalorian assured the shorter man. "She's still on edge, but not hurt."

"Dreadful," said Oobleck. "Simply dreadful."

"And quite serious," said Ozpin. "As far as we know, there is a live Grimm on the grounds, doing irreparable damage."

"The young man was one of our students," said Glynda. "His parents have been notified."

Oobleck turned back to Professor Port. "What do you make of this, Peter?"

"It would seem young Cinder was right," said the shorter man. "It seems we are indeed in the presence of a Chill. My best guess was that it was possessing the young man, waiting for the right time to strike against Djarin here."

"First students, and now teachers," said Djarin. "Any one of us could be next."

"And it doesn't seem to be in a rush to leave." Professor Port moved to the center of the room and all eyes landed on him. "If it's capable of taking the shape of a Human, causing that much damage to the boy's body, this is unlike any common Chill. It's been alive for a long time, it's evolved. It knows the perfect places to hide, the perfect times to strike or flee. It could be anywhere."

"Which means it's up to us to find it," said Glynda.

"But how?" Oobleck asked. "It could be anywhere, and we cannot conduct a proper search without alarming the students."

"Which is why I have arranged for the students to leave," said Professor Ozpin. "I will be making an announcement that the time for their first missions will be starting this week. They will be shadowing Huntsmen and Huntresses, who are more than capable of looking after them. In the meantime, all of us will search the grounds until this... thing is found."

"Then we should start our investigation while they leave," said Glynda. "That will be its last chance to either flee or attack another student."

"It may try to leave once everyone is gone," said Djarin. "What can we do if it comes back?"

"I will have our security systems upgraded," said Ozpin. "Perhaps you could be of assistance, Djarin. You said your thermal vision allowed you to follow it quickly. And prevent it from coming back."

"I can help. Did you inform the other Headmasters?"

"I did. Theodore and Obi-Wan have agreed to hold off the transportation of students attending the Vytal Festival, but James insisted he come early and help."

"Is that the right call? Ironwood might be bringing more fodder for the Chill."

"He agrees. And plans to send a new creation of his to assist us, one that a Chill cannot apprehend easily."

"In the meantime, we should start searching."

"And we will." Ozpin looked back at the other teachers. "We'll begin our search on the day our students leave. I'll be making the announcement tonight. In the meantime, stay vigilant and safe. If you see anything, proceed with maximum caution."

"Absolutely!" said Oobleck.

"Of course," said Port.

"I'll be examining our security," said Glynda. "Djarin, perhaps you should come."

"I will," said the Mandalorian. "But in a few minutes." He turned to Ozpin. "I want to talk to you first."

Ozpin nodded and waited for the other professors to leave. Once they were alone, Ozpin looked up at Djarin. "How may I be of assistance?" he asked.

"I think I know the perfect place to send Cinder."

---

Two days after Ozpin made his plan was the start of students choosing their missions and leaving. Each team was gathered near the docks, looking over large boards that had Huntsmen missions on them. Djarin, Glynda, and Ozpin were watching them leave while waiting for one team in particular. After a few minutes of waiting, Team CMFF walked into the large area, led by a black haired girl proudly wearing a suit of armor. Djarin was immediately drawn to a mixture of red, amber, and black that Cinder had painted her armor.

"Oh, hey," she said with a smile as she stood in front of her father. "I just put the finishing touches since you last saw it." She made a small turn so everyone could see the rest of her armor. "What do you think?"

All three teachers observed how the red paint covered most of her armor. Small pieces of amber and black were matched with the red in certain places, with amber on the arms and black at the legs. Ozpin and Glynda continued to look at the armor while Djarin looked Cinder in the eyes and chuckled. "I still can't get over the new colors," he said as he nodded. "They really suit you."

Cinder smiled and shrugged. "Gotta be me."

"Yes, you do," Djarin thought to himself. "Any ideas for a mission yet?"

"We were just about to look at the board," said Merri. Her sisters began to move to the closest board. "You coming, Cinder?"

"I'll be there in a minute," she said. When they were alone, Cinder looked back to the teachers. Glydna had excused herself to assist a team with selecting their mission, so it was just Ozpin and Djarin. "Dad filled me in yesterday. I still can't believe a Grimm came here of all places."

"We can worry about that later," said Ozpin. "Right now, we need to make sure it will be leaving shortly. And if you're willing, we found a mission that you may be interested in." Ozpin showed Cinder a mission on his Scroll.

"A Search and Destroy?" she asked. "I can handle that. But the rest of my team is still a little inexperienced. Are you sure it'll be fine?"

"Your father suggested the idea to me," said Ozpin. "He found the perfect place for your team."

"Mountain Glenn doesn't sound perfect."

Djarin put a hand on Cinder's shoulder. "It is," he insisted. "Do you remember the clan of Mandalorians I told you about? The ones who live in the ruins?"

Cinder suddenly began to understand what was going on. "You want me to meet Clan Tenau?" she assumed.

"Yes. You and your team will still work on your mission, but they can keep an eye on you when you meet them. You'll be safe there."

"What about you? That thing could have killed you."

"Don't worry. I'll have the rest of the staff to help me find the Chill."

"And I've asked a few others to come," said Ozpin. "People who we've worked with before."

"We'll be fine, Cinder," Djarin promised. "You should go tell your team the plan."

Cinder nodded and left the two adults. She came across her team at a mission board. "Oh, there you are!" Flora said as she smiled and waved. "Any ideas on what mission we should choose?"

"I was actually talking to Ozpin about it," said Cinder. "We agreed that we should take a Search and Destroy... here." She pointed to the mission located at Mountain Glenn. "I know this might be debatable, but-"

"Wait, that's where he wants us to go?" Merri asked.

"Yeah, that sounds kind of dangerous," Flora said. "I mean, all these missions are dangerous, but I think Mountain Glenn takes the cake?"

"How come?" Cinder asked. "You know what happened there?"

"Everyone does," said Fauna. "I memorized each detail. And unlike me, it's not pretty."

"Well, where do you think we should go?" Cinder asked, deciding to let the rest of her team voice their opinion.

Merri was the first to look back at the mission board. "How about this one?" she asked as she pointed to the mission right in front of her.

"A Perimeter Defense?" Cinder asked. "My dad took me on one of those before."

"So it's perfect, right? You'd know what to do?"

"Well, no. The Huntsmen on those job are... lazy, for lack of a better word."

Merri looked back to her sisters, who simply shrugged. "So?" Fauna asked.

Cinder looked back to Fauna. "Well, do you think that's the best place to learn about fighting Grimm?"

"Um..."

"I mean, the only Grimm you see are a Beowolf. Two or three tops." Cinder pointed back at the board. "Merri, when the Grimm took your home, there must have been a whole swarm of them. A Search and Destroy could help you fight off that many Grimm, maybe even twice as much."

"Well... yeah, of course," Merri said, unable to argue with Cinder's logic. "But don't you think it's kind of jumping the gun?"

"And at Mountain Glenn of all places?" Fauna asked.

"Maybe a little," Cinder agreed. "But do you really think the rest of these missions will help you fight off Grimm? I don't think so."

"..."

The sisters began to whisper to each other, quiet enough so Cinder couldn't hear them. Their leader was confused by the secrecy, but decided to wait for their decision. They turned around after a minute while Merri spoke. "Let's just be extra careful," she said.

Cinder smiled and looked back at Ozpin. After looking down at his Scroll, he pressed a few buttons and nodded back to Cinder. Once he saw Cinder accept the mission, he turned back to Djarin.

"Let me guess," he said. "Given that you're here instead of with Glynda like I suggested, and I saw your ship close to the landing pad, you wish to take Cinder and her team to Mountain Glenn."

Djarin was taken aback by Ozpin's intuition, but didn't bother denying the idea. "I just... feel I should see her off," he said.

"As well as make sure the Chill won't be going after her."

"...That too."

"Djarin, any other airship is capable of taking Cinder from place to place. There's no need to-"

"I insist." Djarin looked back at the girls. "I'll take them in the Crest, I should be back soon."

Ozpin sighed as he fixed his glasses. "This wouldn't be the first time you've insisted to take my place in matters involving Cinder."

"..."

Ozpin was telling the truth. If he had a piece of Lien for every time Djarin wanted to include himself or take over Ozpin's matters with Cinder, he would be a very rich man. He didn't blame the Mandalorian for worrying, but there was a fine line between worry and over-protection. And there were times when he saw over-protection lead to obsession, paranoia, and distrust. He didn't want Djarin to be like those people, so Ozpin decided to have a brief, but much needed, conversation.

"Do you trust me, Djarin?" he asked calmly.

"From what I can tell, yes," Djarin replied. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't want her overwhelmed by all of this."

"I don't believe she is. There are times when I have seen her concerned about your safety rather than her own. She believes she knows how to look after herself. And I agree."

"..."

The Headmaster could tell that Djarin was still unsure about the idea. Fortunately, he foresaw something like this happening and decided to take another role in Cinder's safety beyond Beacon.

"It seems they're ready to leave," he said. "Let us wish her and Team CMFF good luck."

Ozpin and the Mandalorian began to follow Cinder and her team out to the landing pad, where students were meeting their assigned Huntsmen and Huntresses. And Team CMFF was walking to a person that Djarin seemed to recognize. When he got closer, he was beginning to see who would be looking after Cinder. She was a woman with a tan complexion, green eyes and black hair. She was wearing a green jacket over a black shirt, and she was currently smiling at the Mandalorian.

"Professor Djarin!" the woman said in surprise with an extended hand. "It's good to see you again!"

"Gretchen Rainart?" Djarin asked as he shook the young woman's hand. "You're helping with the missions?"

"I know, right?" Gretchen laughed as she lowered her hand. "I mean, I thought it would be crazy enough to be graduating from Beacon! I'm sure you remember I wasn't the fastest learner."

"But you still learned."

"Well, thanks to you." Gretchen pulled out her Scroll and showed Djarin her Huntress license. "The rest of the teachers, including you, helped me walk out of Beacon with this." Gretchen turned back to Cinder. "And I won't forget how you saved my life that day."

All eyes seemed to land on Cinder when Gretchen mentioned this. "Whoa, you did what?" Merri asked.

"I gotta hear this story," said Fauna.

Cinder began to explain everything while Ozpin was talking to Djarin. "I'm sure you remember Gretchen's path to graduation?" he asked.

"I also remember how hard it was to deal with her brother," said Djarin. "I think... I understand what you're saying. I shouldn't be like Hazel."

"Not entirely like Hazel. He cared about his sister, was willing to go to any lengths to keep her safe. But there were times when he went too far, where he wasn't able to see that our actions were helping people like Gretchen."

"You said something like that before. That we can expect evil to be easy to see..."

"And yet we are often the slowest to see the darkness within ourselves." Ozpin put a hand on Djarin's shoulder. "Your heart is in the right place, Djarin. Let's make sure it doesn't stray."

Djarin nodded. "I should say goodbye to Cinder." He began to walk back to Gretchen and Team CMFF, but turned around when he thought of something else. "Whatever happened to Hazel? I don't remember seeing him at Gretchen's graduation."

"Neither do I. Perhaps it's best not to talk about it while Gretchen is here."

---

Gretchen and Team CMFF were flying on board an airship from Beacon. The pilot promised to pick them up in two days or when he received word the mission was over. In the meantime, Gretchen was sharing stories of her time as a licensed Huntress.

"And after Nerissa used her Semblance to wash the Megalodon on the shore, the rest of us killed it before it could hurt anyone else." Gretchen wiped her brow and felt sweat on her palm. "Oh, boy. Now that was a close one."

"Wow," said Cinder, who was more into the story than the rest of her team. "How long did it take you to do all of that?"

"About an hour and a half."

"Damn," said Merri. "That was a crazy story."

"Crazy with a capital 'c,'" said Flora.

"You know, I never thought I'd be into Grimm stories after sitting through Port's crap," said Fauna. "But this was something else."

"Oh, yeah!" Gretchen yelled. "I feel you there. I'll always remember exactly how I prayed for death whenever he shared his stories. And then there was that one time he told the same story twice in one day."

All three sisters groaned, not looking forward to an experience like their Huntress described. Although she normally didn't mind the stories, Cinder knew the idea of the same story told twice would be boring. In fact, she was almost certain she heard all of his stories.

*CLINK*

A small sound of metal hitting metal caught Cinder's attention and made her look to the floor. Just next to Gretchen's foot was what appeared to be a silver locket, open and revealing two pictures. Cinder picked it up and saw Gretchen herself and a familiar young man. Her instincts kicked in as she tapped Gretchen's shoulder and held out her palm.

"I think you dropped this," she said calmly. "It didn't break or-"

Gretchen quickly grabbed the locket out of Cinder's hand without a word. Cinder's reflexes caused her hand to move away from the woman, who immediately looked at her with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry," she said calmly. "I just... don't like to be without this." Gretchen looked into the locket, specifically the picture of the young man.

"Is that Hazel?" Cinder asked. "Your brother?"

Gretchen nodded. "You told me you met him before, right?"

"The day when Headmaster Kenobi and I took you to the hospital. He wasn't in a... good mood."

"Yeah, I remember. He came really close to making sure I didn't go back to Beacon."

"Really?" The sisters moved a little closer to Gretchen, almost allured by her sadness. "What happened?"

Gretchen sighed as she put her locket on her neck. "We... said some things to each other. Things I wish I didn't say." She began to dry her eyes. "After that day, he disappeared. I never saw him again."

"Disappeared?" Cinder asked in surprise. "That's... terrible. I'm really sorry."

"Thank you."

The airship slowly began to turn as the doors opened. Everyone stood up and prepared to jump out. All the students took out their weapons as they prepared to meet Grimm on the ground while Gretchen took out a bag full of Dust crystals. After they told the pilot to meet them in two days time, Gretchen and Team CMFF jumped out and landed on the ground.

"Alright, girls," Gretchen said as she turned back to the team. "Here's the deal; the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. We don't really know the reason, but one guess could be-"

"Grimm," Merri quickly spoke up.

Gretchen looked back at the young girl. "Um... I'm not sure if that's-"

"No, there's a Grimm behind you," Fauna spoke up as she pointed behind the Huntress. And sure enough, there was a lone Beowolf about one hundred yards from where they were. "Cinder, you got a shot?"

"Yep," Cinder said as she readied her bow. "But let's wait a second."

"She's right," Gretchen said as she looked back to the team. "We should see if it can lead us to the pack, see what's drawing the Grimm out here."

"How long should that take?" Flora asked.

"Hard to say. Lone Grimm can usually be seen without a pack for... Scratch that, there it is."

Everyone looked to see more Beowolves following the first one. Cinder was paying close attention to the features each Beowolf had, especially the one at the front. "None of these look like an Alpha," she said. "Maybe there's more of them."

Suddenly, one Beowolf snapped its head in the group's direction. The others followed suit and began to charge. Gretchen saw a chance for the students to show what they could do, and Team CMFF was ready to take that opportunity.

"Cinder, think we should let you handle this?" Merri asked.

"Let's make this a team effort," Cinder suggested, feeling eager to show off to a licensed Huntress. "Merri, Flora, Fauna. I'm gonna take out this lead one. Think you can use the Whirlwind of Destiny with the others?"

"Sounds like a plan," said Flora.

"Ready when you are," said Fauna.

Cinder aimed her bow at the the lead Beowolf and let an arrow fly. Just as she did, her teammates took off running with their sickles. The arrow struck the Grimm in the skull and caused another to trip on the dead body. Flora threw her first sickle at one Beowolf and watched it cut the beast in half. The sickle then moved like a boomerang towards another sickle, which Fauna had thrown. The two stuck together and were suddenly drawn to Merri's sickle, which was flying towards the last Grimm.

"Not bad," said Gretchen. "Though being without your weapons is risky."

"That's why I'm here," said Cinder, who lowered her bow. "When their sickles fly, I cover them all from here."

"A bow might be harder to load and fire than a gun. Just be careful not to bite off more than you can chew."

Cinder looked back at her bow, seeing the Huntress' point. "Looks like we'll have to work on that move." She then looked back to her team. "Alright, great work everyone. We still have a couple of hours before sundown, and a lotta ground to cover."

"Cinder's right," said Gretchen. "We're going to keep going north of here, it'll be a long trip. Keep your eyes open and kill everything that gets in the way."

The girls simply nodded and began to walk. Gretchen joined them, leaving Cinder alone to examine her immediate surroundings. After looking at each building, she pressed a button on her gauntlet to pull up a map of Mountain Glenn.

"I thought Dad said this was where we could find them," she thought to herself. Once she realized she was alone, Cinder turned off her map and joined her team.

---

The next two hours seemed to fly by for Team CMFF. Everywhere they went, they encountered Grimm. Whether it was on the streets or in the buildings, the Grimm were all around them. But they proved to be child's play to the Huntress and the students, who always made quick work of each Grimm. Despite the fact the Search and Destroy was going as Gretchen expected, she was disappointed not to find any kind of source for Grimm activity. And the fact that the Blair sisters were becoming restless didn't help either.

"This is getting pointless," said Flora, who was cleaning off her sickle.

"Wasn't that like the millionth Grimm we've killed today?" asked Fauna, having just killed one more Beowolf.

"Okay, I'm done," said Merri, who sat down. "I refuse to kill another beast until we get a breather."

Gretchen and Cinder were beginning to grow tired themselves, and saw the sun setting as a sign to call it a day. "Alright, girls," Gretchen said as she stood in front of an empty building. "Cinder and I are going to take one last look around the immediate area. You three can help set up camp in this building."

"Sure."

"Whatever."

"Fine."

All three sisters walked into the building while Gretchen walked with Cinder. "Finally, some peace and quiet," she said as she turned back to the young student. "Oh, no offense."

"None taken," said Cinder. "I kinda got used to the times when they'd be lazy, to be honest. Gives me more work to do."

"Doesn't that bother you? I mean, I wasn't the perfect student, but I never tried to be a burden on my team."

"Not really. Being a leader's hard work, yeah. But finally seeing everyone put in an effort makes me see I'm doing things right. That I'm leading them in the right direction."

"That's true. But why haven't you complained?"

Cinder stopped walking. "What do you mean?" she asked calmly.

Gretchen stopped walking and turned back to Cinder. "You've been awfully quiet today, save for directing your team in fighting Grimm," she said. "You've also been spending more time in each building than the rest of us, always checking your map on that... really impressive piece of work you're wearing." Gretchen looked at Cinder's armor from head to toe as she said this. "So cool."

Cinder blushed as she rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

Gretchen slightly shook her head as she got back to her point. "I think you're taking the mission more seriously than me. Or rather... you're focused on finding something else."

Cinder looked around her immediate surroundings as Gretchen said this. Once she realized they were alone, Cinder took off her helmet and looked at Gretchen. "The reason I took this mission was to find other Mandalorians," she confessed. "I thought they could help us, find out why the Grimm are here."

"They live here?" Gretchen observed the scraps of buildings around her. "Mountain Glenn doesn't give me a very 'home-y' vibe."

"No, but it gives a very 'secrecy' vibe. I never met them, but Dad's been here a few times. The Mandalorians here taught him about living among Grimm, being able to see when they sense negativity or when they're acting strangely."

"Huh." Gretchen put a hand on her cheek and gently rubbed it as she thought about the idea. "That's strange... and a little risky. But it's worked?"

"From what he told me, yeah. And he taught me a few things, mostly when they're waiting before they attack."

"Have you seen that today? With all the Grimm we fought?"

Cinder thought back on the Grimm she fought and killed throughout the day. The creatures weren't on the hunt or defending whatever place they called their home. They attacked, but Cinder knew this was out of their primal instinct. But the waiting, the gathering of numerous packs... it was all unordinary for Grimm. She didn't know everything about their habits, but she knew their was something different than what she usually saw.

"...Yeah," Cinder finally admitted. "I can't explain it, but... yeah."

Gretchen began to feel her palms become sweaty as Cinder said this. She thought this mission would be like any other, but now she was beginning to have a very bad feeling about being in Mountain Glenn. The fact that Grimm had an ulterior plan was something she never heard of, and it made her want to go back to camp. So she and Cinder made their way back to the building where the rest of Team CMFF was.

"We'll talk more in the morning okay?" Gretchen asked as they walked into the building. "Maybe you can show me what you know, see if we can see what else the Grimm are doing."

"Good idea," Cinder agreed. "It might be hard to understand for a first try, but I can-"

Gretchen stopped walking and quickly raised her right hand. "Wait." She looked up at the ceiling and then the hallway. Cinder quickly took out her swords and followed the Huntress' gaze. Before she could ask what was wrong, Gretchen asked a question. "Do you hear something?"

"..."

Cinder wasn't able to hear anything, but didn't want to rule out the possibility that something was with them. So she put on her helmet and used its audio enhancer to listen once more.

*BUZZ*

Cinder could hear a soft buzzing noise close to her. "Where's that coming from?" she asked, unsure what kind of insect was in a ruined building.

"I don't know," Gretchen said as she looked back to Cinder. "You can put those away. I just never really liked bugs."

"Guess we'll just have to avoid the room they're-"

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Suddenly, the buzzing noise became louder, and it was coming closer. It was if either a very large bug or swarm of bugs were coming closer. While Cinder was able to remain calm at the change, Gretchen was starting to grow nervous. She clenched onto a bag of Dust she had on her belt as she examined the halls, trying to figure out where the bugs could be.

"Ow!" Gretchen yelled as she slapped her neck.

"What's wrong?" Cinder asked.

"Something bit me!" Gretchen moved her hand across her neck and used two fingers to pick at something. Once she had a grip, she moved her hand to look at a small black fly caught between her thumb and index finger. "What the heck? Do flies normally bite people like-Gah!" Gretchen was forced to let go of the fly as it bit her flesh again, leaving the Huntress to use a small portion of her Aura.

*BUZZ*

Cinder heard the buzzing again, and it was much louder. She looked past Gretchen to see a small swarm of black flies, just like the one that bit Gretchen. Confusion turned to fear as Cinder screamed one word and began to run.

"BOTFLIES!"

Gretchen joined Cinder as she ran to escape the swarm of flies. Once they were outside, Cinder stood in front of the Huntress and raised her arm towards the swarm. Fire escaped from her armor's flamethrower and began to burn some of the flies. The ones that didn't burn began to fly in various different directions, away from the two girls. The fire died when all the flies were gone, and Cinder looked back to Gretchen.

"Are you okay?" she asked calmly.

"Yeah..." Gretchen replied as she stood up and caught her breath. She looked at her hand and felt her neck, but couldn't find any painful spots. Her Aura had done its work and she didn't need it anymore. "Yeah, I'm okay." She looked back at the building entrance. "What were those?"

"Botflies," Cinder repeated herself. "The world's smallest Grimm, and just as dangerous. A whole swarm can apparently devour a person in minutes."

"I never heard of them."

"Neither did I, until a few months ago. Professor Port was the one who discovered them, but he has no idea where they came from."

"New Grimm?" Gretchen's uncertainty about Mountain Glenn increased at the mention of a new species of Grimm. "That does it. This isn't a mission for students, I'm calling Vale right now and getting you home."

"But our Scrolls don't work out here." Cinder spread her arms. "The CCT is miles from here, and all the towers to communicate with the city were destroyed."

Gretchen sighed as she realized what this meant. "Then we're on our own." She looked back to the building. "But first, we're going back inside. Get the rest of your team and find another place to lay low."

"Wait, there they are!" Cinder yelled as she pointed to the doors of the building. And sure enough, the Blair sisters were walking out of the deathtrap of a skyscraper, while Merri was being carried by Flora and Fauna.

"Oh, my Gods!" Gretchen cried as she ran towards the students. "What happened?!"

"We were making our camp like you told us to," Fauna explained. "But Merri took a bad step and fell down a hole!"

Cinder took a look at Merri, and saw that the only injury was on her arm. She had some bruising and cuts, but the real concern Cinder had were certain spots on her pale flesh. "Merri, these look like... you've been burned."

"I... I saw some of those... flies," Merri explained, referring to the botflies. "When I tried to run, I knocked over a box of Fire Dust."

Cinder looked back at the building. "The fire must have drawn them out," she figured. "But... why didn't we hear an explosion?"

"Don't worry about that right now," Fauna insisted. "Let's just find another place to hide out, for Merri to rest."

"That might be easier said than done," said Gretchen, who threw a bag of Fire Dust at a Beowolf and watched it burn. "I think we just drew more Grimm, and who knows if there are more of those things in each building?"

Cinder found herself unable to know what to do, and the sound of approaching Grimm began coming closer and closer. "They're coming!" she said as she stood up. Gretchen and Flora joined her while Fauna kneeled down and held onto Merri. Grimm began to approach from all directions, and the ground began to shake as they charged.

All of a sudden, the ground began to crack as well. Cinder looked down to see the stone beneath her break apart and form a large circle. Her eyes widened under her helmet as she began to have an idea. Quickly taking a bag of Dust off Gretchen's belt, Cinder raised it above her head and used her Semblance to heat up its contents.

"Brace yourselves!" she cried as she threw the bag down to the ground.

The explosion was strong enough for the rest of the fractured ground to break into pieces and create a large hole in the earth. Everyone fell down the hole and came into contact with dirt at the bottom. Cinder's awareness of her plan allowed her to move to catch Merri to prevent her teammate from hurting herself even more. Once she could see that everyone was alright, Cinder walked down a dirt path and looked down from where she was.

"Cinder, what was that?" Flora asked as she dusted herself off.

"Our ticket to safety," Cinder said as she took off her helmet. "We made it."

"What?" Fauna asked. "Made it where?"

Gretchen moved over to Cinder so she could see what the Mandalorian was looking at. And once her eyes fell upon more buildings below her, Gretchen smiled. "Did you know that we were right above it?" she asked calmly.

"I... hoped," Cinder confessed. "But that doesn't matter now. Let's find a place to lay low." Cinder picked Merri off the ground and began to walk.

"Wh... What is this?" Merri asked. "Where are we?"

"Close to Mountain Glenn's subway system," Cinder explained. "I must have heard Oobleck talk about it a thousand times. And here I thought I'd never have to use a history lesson to survive."

"Before the city fell, citizens evacuated to the subway and took shelter here," Gretchen explained. "They also made homes out of caves that were originally cleared out for the trains."

"So, an underground village?" Fauna assumed, looking at each building as they grew closer.

"Sort of," Gretchen answered. "Things worked out at first, but an explosion at another cave woke up subterranean Grimm, killing hundreds of people. After that, the Kingdom sealed off the tunnels."

Flora took out her sickle and looked around. "Are there any more of these Grimm now?" she asked.

"Maybe," Gretchen said as she opened a door to another building. "But right now, it's better than staying up top. Come on, we'll take five in here."

Cinder sighed as she looked back at the catacomb. "Well... here's to hoping Dad's doing a better job than me," she though to herself.

---

Djarin was walking through the faculty dorms, specifically where he saw the Chill flee and escape. Using the thermal vision in his helmet, he was looking at the last place he saw it. However, instead of cold spots like he saw the other day, the walls and windows had a normal temperature. In short, there wasn't really anything he could find that resembled a clue.

*TAP*

*TAP*

*TAP*

The sound of something tapping on the window behind him made Djarin reach for his pistol and quickly turn around, while preparing to teleport in case the Chill tried to take him. But instead, he saw a small black bird on the outside of the glass. So when he lowered the gun and put it away, the Mandalorian opened the window and let the bird fly inside, where it transformed into Qrow Branwen.

"I thought you learned not to try and surprise me," said Djarin, who closed the window.

"Can't blame me for wanting to take the faster way here," Qrow replied as he stretched his arm. After a few seconds, he lowered his arm and held out his hand to Djarin. "How are ya, Mando?"

"I'm fine, Qrow." Djarin shook the Huntsman's hand. "Yourself?"

"Eh... nothing changed but the weather, you know." Qrow let go of his hand and took his folded weapon off his back. "So Oz says this thing almost killed you?"

"It could have, but it didn't." Djarin led the way down the the other hall with his rifle in his hands. "Cinder scared it off using this."

Qrow nodded as he walked with Djarin. "Any idea where it went?" he asked.

"None. But there's no way it left the school grounds. It's feeding, and has the perfect chance with a bunch of people in one place. We made sure it didn't leave when the students left." The pair looked down one hall, seeing nothing but closed doors. So they began opening them one by one until they found something.

"Do you know how it got here?" Qrow asked.

"Our best guess is that Beacon's security wasn't prepared for this," the Mandalorian replied. "We'd expect to see Beowolves climbing the cliff or Nevermores flying above us. This Chill could have slipped in during the night, used the shadows to hide and strike when it could."

The idea made Qrow scared enough to turn on the lights in the room he was looking in and leave practically no shadows in the room. "Meaning it could be all around us," he noted. "And we can't see it."

"Unfortunately," Djarin said. "Which is why we can't leave any unturned stones. And why we need to keep tabs on everyone." Just as he said that, Djarin placed two fingers on the side of his helmet to turn on a radio. "Ozpin, I'm with Qrow. We're still searching the faculty dorms."

"Very good," said Ozpin, who was talking through his Scroll. "Thumbelina and I finished searching the tower, we will be going through the main building. Glynda and Ann should already be there."

"We are, Professor," said Glynda. "We haven't found anything just yet. Peter, did you and Harold find anything?"

"I'm afraid there's no sign of the Chill in the cafeteria," said Professor Port. "Barty just told me he's looking in the student dorms. But believe me, we should be the first to know where it is! Why, I believe I used a similar hunting method when I was young man, where I braved-"

Djarin quickly turned off his radio, not wanting to be distracted at the moment. He instead kept searching each and every room he walked by, unable to find anything. And Qrow wasn't having the best of luck himself.

"Maybe we should try to draw it out," Qrow suggested. "Something tells me playing hide-and-seek won't get anywhere."

"You're right," said Djarin. "I hate to do this, but I know one thing that can draw out even the smallest Grimm."

"Negativity." Qrow pulled out his flask and began to drink. "Way ahead of you there, pal."

"It sounds like you need to get something off your chest." Djarin continued to firmly hold his rifle while lending his ear to Qrow. "One way or another, I think it'll do some good. Have a level head while working."

Qrow sighed as he put down his flask. "Yeah. It's... a lotta things right now. Like I said; same crap, different day."

"Maybe. But suffering in silence isn't the best option."

Qrow sighed again. "Well, you already know about my sister, Summer, and... Did Oz tell ya? Why I was gone for a while?"

Djarin turned back to Qrow. "He did. He also said it wasn't your fault. And I agree."

"Yeah, well... what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Don't play dumb, Mando." Qrow took another drink. "Why'd you wanna work with me anyways? Haven't I taken away enough from you?"

"You haven't taken anything from me."

"If it could talk, I think your Aura would say otherwise."

"..."

---

Three months ago

Djarin was starting to open his eyes, seeing a white light and feeling a strange pain. If someone else was in his position, they would mistake the light and pain for them moving on to another plane of existence. But the Mandalorian knew something else was going on, given the fact that he could hear someone talking.

"Are you sure he's awake?" a male voice asked. "It's hard to tell with that helmet on him."

"Stephen, I saw him moving," a woman's voice answered. "You told me to come get you when something was happening."

"No, you did the right thing. I just don't know if he's-"

Djarin suddenly sat up, catching the man and woman off guard. "Where am I?" he quickly asked. He suddenly felt that something was missing, so he looked down to his chest and legs and saw that pieces of his armor were missing. Assuming that he was being robbed and seeing that he still had his gauntlets, Djarin raised his arm and prepared to fire whistling birds at the people in front of him.

"Wait, wait!" the man pleaded as he raised his hands. "We're not going to hurt you!"

Djarin didn't lower his arm, despite the pain he was feeling. He instead looked at the pile of metal towards the door to the brown room he was in. "My armor-"

"We had to remove it. To help you."

"...Help?"

Djarin looked down at his torso again, which was bandaged and glowing the same color as his Aura. His Aura was surrounding his entire body, but it felt different. He couldn't explain it, but the Mandalorian felt that his Aura wasn't working on just his torso and legs. It was almost as if it was doing something he couldn't see. Nevertheless, Djarin decided to get some answers.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Shion," the man replied. "A village in Anima. I'm Doctor Lake. Stephen Lake." He gestures to the woman next to him. "This is my wife Tabitha."

Rather than say anything to their paranoid guest, Tabitha made her way to the door. "I'll let your friend know you're awake," she said as she left the room.

"My... friend?" Djarin asked, starting to calm down and lower his arm.

"That's right," said the doctor. "A Huntsmen brought you here. You were on death's doorstep, might I add. Tell me... what's the last thing you remember?"

Djarin held his head with both hands, trying his best to remember recent events. "I... I remember... orange. All around me. Just orange."

Stephen moved closer to the bed and looked over Djarin's body. "That would make sense, given what the Huntsman described," he said. "Do you remember another village like Shion? About Grimm being drawn to a mine?"

"...Yes. I remember. It was... a string of mines, actually. Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy... asked for my help."

"Anything else?"

The Mandalorian tried to think of anything else, but all he could think of was the orange light that was all around him. "Just the light."

"Okay." The doctor moved back and began to explain himself. "From what I heard, a missed shot hit agitated Dust instead of a Centinel. There was a chain reaction, blowing you outside the mine."

"My armor... should have been able to protect me," Djarin insisted, not remembering him removing armor.

"Well, that's where it got serious," Stephen continued. "Your Aura was drained from the explosion and Grimm encounters from earlier. Pieces of shrapnel from mining equipment managed to strike exposed pieces of your body. Your chest plate was knocked off, leaving room for shrapnel to travel close to your heart."

"And... you helped me. You got rid of the shrapnel."

"After your friend carried you for over a day from the next village. You're very lucky to be alive, that I was able to remove all that shrapnel."

Djarin looked at his torso once more, seeing nothing but bandages over his chest and arms. He saw a lot of red on the white material, as well as the rags on the floor. It was clear that the Mandalorian had lost a lot of blood from the shrapnel. Stephen Lake was right; he was lucky to be alive.

But there was one thing he wasn't understanding.

"Is my Aura still... working on me?" Djarin asked calmly.

"Your Aura's healing you, don't get me wrong," the doctor said. "I'm sure you're feeling different because I had to... I had to change it."

"Change it?"

The doctor, while calm enough to have lowered his hands, had to clear his throat and wipe nervous sweat off his face, given that he wasn't sure how the Mandalorian would take the news. Nevertheless, he began to explain Djarin's situation as clear as he could.

"Your injuries on the outside were serious, but nothing I wasn't capable of treating. I later learned that you had multiple injuries on the inside."

"The inside?" Djarin asked as he put a hand to his chest. "Of what kind?"

"All I could figure out was that you were bleeding internally in various places, mainly your heart. My guess is that these injuries began to occur while your friend was carrying you, and when I had to remove the shrapnel."

"But I'm fine now. I'm not hurt?"

Stephen put a stethoscope on his ears and placed it on Djarin's heart. "Your heart is beating normally, thank goodness. Your Aura is doing exactly what I wanted to do."

Djarin's confusion came once more, given there was one fact about Aura that didn't make sense. "But... that's impossible," he declared. "Aura can only heal external wounds, not internal."

"Precisely." The doctor removed his stethoscope and looked back at Djarin. "When I went to medical school in Mistral, I learned the same thing. I always thought Aura could do more, in life or death situations. It's actually how I unlocked my own Semblance. I can... manipulate Aura to heal internal wounds as well as external wounds. Like a severed vein or artery, something I don't have the equipment for."

Djarin looked at his Aura again, beginning to understand his situation. "So, my Aura can work internally as well as externally?"

"Exactly. Since I didn't have the equipment to deal with such injuries, I had no choice but to operate on you with my Semblance. Do you understand?"

"I do." Djarin began to get off the bed, slowly and carefully as he could. His Aura suddenly broke, causing him to look at his body again. "I take it I've been using it for a while."

"Well, yes." Stephen stood in front of him and continued to speak. "However, there's something else you should know. This kind of manipulation is permanent, your Aura will continue to heal any external and internal wounds. But there is one side effect."

Djarin began to grow uneasy once again, unsure if he was ready to hear whatever it was the doctor was telling him. Nevertheless, he had to know what was wrong. "Which is?"

"Your Aura has been... affected," the doctor said as he straightened his collar. "Weakened, if you will. You see, healing both internal and external wounds is twice the work, and it will take less time and less external force for it to break. Your Semblance, whatever it is, will also play a factor in this."

Djarin looked over his body, beginning to understand what the news meant to him. "So my Aura will drain faster?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Does this mean... I can't fight?"

"Oh, you can still fight. Grimm or people, whatever the need may be. But you must be careful with your Aura. Use it only when you need to, and constantly check your Aura levels."

"..."

Stephen could tell that the news was hard to hear, so he had one other thing to say. "I know this is a setback for someone like you. But I want you to know that this was the only way your life could be saved. I'm... sorry."

Djarin thought about how this operation was indeed a setback for him. But he remembered that he was still alive and still able to fight. And if people like Clan Tenau could live and fight without using their Auras, Djarin could do so too.

"I understand," the Mandalorian said calmly. He walked over to the door and picked up the final pieces of his armor. They were cracked and dented, but they weren't broken beyond repair. So he slowly and carefully put the pieces back on and looked back to the doctor. "How much-?"

"Don't worry, your friend paid in advance," said Stephen. "You don't need to worry about that. I'd show you out myself, but I should get this room cleaned up. Oh, and come back anytime if you feel something's wrong."

"Thank you."

Djarin opened the door and walked down the hall towards the exit of the house. And as he expected, he found Qrow Branwen waiting on the front steps, drinking from his flask. When he heard the door behind him open, Qrow turned around.

"How ya holding up?" he asked after taking another drink.

"I'll live," said Djarin, who grabbed his side for a second. His body began to glow once more, showing that his Aura was working again. Qrow got up quickly, but Djarin raised his hand. "No, it's fine."

"So... did it work?"

"I think it did." Djarin let go of his torso and began to walk. "I... I can feel it working."

Qrow grimaced at the idea of feeling healing on the inside rather than out. "Aw, jeez. Well, how does it feel?"

"It's better." Djarin sat down and looked at Qrow. "They told me you said you carried me for a whole day, looking for help. Is that true?"

"Eh, doesn't make much of a difference." Qrow drank from his flask again. "Didn't really feel like a day to be honest."

Djarin looked at the map on his gauntlet and saw how far Shion was from the village they were originally at. And sure enough, it was a little over a day's travel. "You still carried me. All the way to Shion." Djarin held out his hand to his friend. "I can't thank-"

"Nope." Qrow quickly stood up and began to walk. "Not happening," he said as he continued to walk.

Djarin was having the feeling that Qrow was once again blaming himself for the mission going horribly wrong. Djarin could understand, there were times when small setbacks occurred on the missions they went on together. But this was different, and Qrow knew it all too well.

"Qrow, wait a minute," Djarin said as he began to walk over to him. "I wouldn't be here if you didn't do what you did. And for that, you have my thanks."

"You really wanna thank me?" Qrow asked. "Don't work with me again."

"..."

After the silence began to calm him down, Qrow spoke again. "Look, it's just for your own good. And if that's not enough, I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"Let's just get back to my ship," said Djarin. He put a hand on Qrow's shoulder and activated his Semblance. But instead of another village, Djarin and Qrow saw nothing but the woods around them. And Djarin's Aura had just run out. Seeing that he indeed had more limitations than before, Djarin could see that he would have to keep the range of his Semblance in mind.

"Looks like we gotta walk from here," Qrow said as he began to walk down the dirt path.

"..."

After an hour of walking, Djarin's Semblance was recharged and able to get them to the village, as well as his ship. After being in the air for twenty minutes, the Razor Crest landed on a mechanic's landing pad in Mistral, where it would take approximately two hours to fix. The waiting gave the Mandalorian time to think about the recent events that happened to him. Despite everything, Djarin was only worried about one thing; Cinder finding out how badly he was hurt.

So he turned to Qrow and tapped his shoulder.

"Huh?" the drunk Huntsman asked.

"If you still want to make it up to me... I have one request," Djarin said as he looked Qrow dead in the eye. "Please don't tell Cinder how close we came."

"Uh... yeah. Yeah, sure thing." Qrow raised his flask to his lips, but quickly realized the liquor inside had run dry. He stood up to get more, to drown the sorrow he was feeling of almost letting down yet another one of his friends.

But before he left, Qrow had one last thing to say.

"Your kid's as smart as a whip," he said. "What are you gonna say, when she sees you like this?"

"Don't worry," Djarin responded. "I'll think of something."

---

Present-day

"She still believes what I said," said Djarin. "I don't like keeping secrets from her, but I know Cinder wouldn't leave my side for a second if she knew what really happened to me and my Aura."

"I can imagine," said Qrow, who took another drink. "But still, you wouldn't have to do so if it weren't for me."

"It doesn't matter. What's done is done."

Qrow turned back to his friend. "All of it's happened before, Mando. It can happen again."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"But we don't have to. I should be working alone, you don't need me as a reason to keep your guard up or whatever!"

"Maybe. But I still think it's beneficial to stick together."

"How?! Any minute, I could cause this Chill to come out and make you its puppet!"

"Its actually pretty simple; I believe in Cinder." Djarin turned back to Qrow. "Her time in Beacon didn't just make her stronger. She learned, and taught me, to see the good in everyone. Flaws and all. A professional Huntsman who's worked against Salem for years not being here because of his Semblance will throw that lesson out the window." Djarin continued to walk. "That's something I don't plan to do anytime soon."

"...Huh." Qrow lowered his flask and began to smile. "Guess that kid's doing more than growing on you."

"It was hard to accept, actually. The only people I cared about before meeting her were the ones in my clan. But because of the responsibility she has, Cinder's grown to value the lives of just about every person in every Kingdom. Something tells me that includes you."

"Maybe you're right. It would be good to see her again, once we take care of things here."

"Trust me, a talk with her will just prove my point."

After spending a minute thinking about this, as well as feeling better about himself, Qrow turned back to the Mandalorian. "Okay, guess it's your turn," he said calmly.

"My turn for what?" Djarin asked.

"To show your negativity. Mine clearly didn't work."

"Trust me, I'm already showing mine."

Qrow chuckled. "Let me guess, my sob story was boring you?"

"Not exactly." Djarin looked up at the sky. "Today's not the first day I've left Cinder to do things on her own. But I can't help but feel worried about her."

"Aw, I wouldn't be worried if I were you." Qrow took a drink from his flask. "I mean sure, Mountain Glenn's not the safest place in Vale. But there's nothing there she can't handle."

"Maybe you're right." Djarin looked back at Qrow. "I mean, she was still excited about her first mission."

A chuckle escaped from Qrow's throat. "Well, here's to hoping Cinder's not as unlucky as us."

---

"We. Are extremely. Unlucky."

Cinder sighed as she heard Flora make this claim. Even though they managed to find safety in the building they were in and treat Merri's arm, the situation Team CMFF found themselves in was far from good.

"No arguments here," said Gretchen, who kept watch at the window. "I should be apologizing to you all. I helped with students before in Vacuo, but this is different."

"No, it's not your fault," said Cinder, who stood up to look at her team. "You were all right. We shouldn't have come here in the first place."

"Next time, we're taking that Perimeter Defense," said Merri.

"Agreed," said Flora.

"Seconded," said Fauna. "I won't say 'We told you so,' but... Aw, screw it. We definitely told you so."

Cinder simply nodded and rubbed her arm, feeling ashamed that her choice led them to this point. Even though Merri seemed to be doing better, that didn't change the fact that they wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for her.

"Hey, Cinder."

The Mandalorian looked up to see Gretchen, gesturing for her to come over. Cinder obeyed and looked out the window.

"Don't beat yourself up," she said. "So maybe you're all not ready for a Search and Destroy. Just remember that and use your experience the next time you need to make a decision."

"I will," Cinder promised. "If I'm the one to make the decision."

"What do you mean?"

Cinder sighed as she looked back to the sisters. "I led them to disaster. I wouldn't do the same thing again, but there's a chance they may not wanna follow me."

"Hey, don't say that." Gretchen tapped Cinder's shoulder to make eye contact with the student. "Remember the day you saved my life? Nerissa, my team leader, was the one who chose that mission. When we all survived, she learned from the past and did better next time. We all make mistakes, Cinder. That's what happens when we're brave enough to make decisions."

"Well... I can't argue with that," Cinder said as she looked back out the window.

"You can make good decisions, Cinder. I've seen it with all the Grimm we killed, how you led your team in the right direction. So things went sideways, and morale is a little low. We just have to make sure we get back up and try again."

"..."

The Huntress couldn't see it, but Cinder was taking the advice to heart. She even remembered times when Djarin made mistakes while raising her, but he always stayed by her side and tried again. She saw that taking care of a child was similar to being team leader. And if Djarin could do it, so could she.

But there was just one problem.

"I still don't get it," Cinder said as she looked out the window. "Why didn't the Mandalorians that live here come help us?"

"Maybe they thought we were looking for them and didn't like that?" Gretchen asked.

"Maybe... but they should have seen us fighting all those Grimm. And me in my armor. They should have at least came to us and tell us we were intruding. But not hearing a peep? It doesn't make sense."

"I could see that happening. If they were still living here."

Cinder looked back to Gretchen, who continued to make her point. "Maybe they decided to leave, find a new home," she suggested.

"I don't see why they would leave a place like this," said Cinder, who walked out of the room. "In fact... my dad said he met their leader down here. It might have been in this building." She immediately moved out of the room and ran up the stairs.

Merri stood up and looked at Gretchen. "What's Cinder talking about?" she asked.

"It's why Cinder chose this mission," said the Huntress. "She thought a clan of Mandalorians who lived here could help us."

"Well... where are they now?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Gretchen moved back to the door. "But I think that-"

"AAAAAHHHH!"

All four girls looked in the direction of a loud scream, which came from upstairs. "Cinder!" Gretchen called out as she ran up the stairs. The sisters joined her and found Cinder on the floor, staring into a room. When they followed her gaze, everyone saw what scared her; the ground was covered in dead Mandalorians, all wearing golden armor.

"Dead..." Cinder whispered, but audible to everyone who was with her. "They're... all dead."

"By the Gods," Gretchen said as she helped Cinder stand. "What could have done this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Merri asked as she turned to Gretchen. "Grimm!"

"We gotta get outta here!" Flora cried as she began to run. But something caught her arm and made her stop in her tracks. She looked back to see Cinder focused on the bodies in front of her.

"Flora... Grimm scratch, bite, and even eat any person who can't defend themselves," Cinder said as she walked closer. "They don't leave burn marks." She leaned closer to one body. "And they don't leave bodies in a pile like this."

Before anyone could ponder the idea of who could have killed these Mandalorians, Fauna looked out the room's doorway and listened. "Someone's coming!" she whispered, hearing footsteps come closer and closer.

Everyone looked towards the doorway and heard the same thing. Instinctively, they ran and hid in various places. Cinder's hiding place was closer to the room of corpses so she could see and hear what was going on.

"He still out of it?"

"See for yourself."

"Good. It's right up here."

"Why do we have to do it all the way out here? I thought this was something Saxon would want to see."

"He's dealing with a problem in the caves. He can't afford any distractions. We should be there helping him, so let's wrap this up."

"Yeah, yeah."

Two Mandalorians in white armor walked up the stairs and entered the room of corpses, followed by a younger man, one with pale skin who looked oddly familiar to Cinder. Using her helmet's visual enhancer, she was able to see what was going on in the room.

"Let's see," the first Mandalorian said as he kneeled down to the bodies. "Okay, this one looks good." He pulled one body off the pile and began to strip the Beskar armor. "Hang on, the helmet's stuck." After a few more seconds of pulling, the helmet came off and the Mandalorian tossed it to his partner. "You're up."

"Sure thing," said the second Mandalorian, who took his flamethrower and began to bring the helmet dangerously close to the fire. "Just keep your eye on the kid."

"Don't worry about him. He won't be a problem." The Mandalorian snapped his fingers in front of the teenager's face and waved his hand, but the young man gave no response. "See?"

"Jeez. Llanx really did a number on the Mind-Wipe, huh?"

"Not just that. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna meet the guy who's feels like a million bucks after meeting a Chill. Even if it was just for a few minutes like this guy."

Cinder gasped at the sound. Now she was starting to understand what was going on. And after getting a better look at the pale-skinned teenager, she was able to recognize him as a student from Beacon. And given the last time she saw what happened to someone who met a Chill, she could confidently say that the same thing happened to the student in the room.

"Yeah, you and me both," said the second Mandalorian, who was continuing to burn the helmet. "Speaking of which, did you hear that we'll need to change our way of recruitment?"

"Yep. It was inevitable, really. I mean, who's not gonna notice a bunch of students missing?"

"I just wish they didn't catch on. We could use more people."

"We have enough. Let's just do what we came here to do."

"Helmet's ready."

The first Mandalorian took the student's arm and guided him over to his partner. "My friend asked me why we bring new recruits all the way out here," he said. "We could bring you your new armor, you're right. But do you know why we're here?"

The student didn't speak, but he shook his head.

"It's so that nobody can hear you scream."

The Mandalorian stepped aside and let his partner walk over with the helmet, which was glowing from the heat the fire gave off. And right when he stuck the hot piece of metal on the student's head, he screamed out in agony. Nobody could see it, but the pieces of the young man's face were melting and in a way that one would think they had died and were burning in Hell.

One of the Mandalorians began to chuckle. "You were right," he said. "It is more enjoyable when you're the one watching."

"Told ya," said his partner. "Surprised he hasn't passed out yet."

"I was expecting him to piss him-"

*SWISH*

The Mandalorian stopped talking and began to choke on blood when a metal arrow pierced his neck. Desperately trying to breathe, the Mandalorian grabbed his throat and fell to the ground.

His partner saw this and quickly turned around with a pistol in his hand. "What the-?!"

*BOOM*

A bag of Electricity Dust hit the man in the face and exploded, sending jolts of electricity throughout his body and causing him to fall to the ground. Cinder and Gretchen quickly ran to the student and pulled off the helmet. When they did, pieces of flesh came off as well, leaving a burnt student on the ground. Gretchen quickly put two fingers on his throat.

"He's alive," she said. "Just unconscious."

"We need to clean these burns," said Cinder. "They might get infected."

"I got something right here." Gretchen took out a small medical kit from a pocket inside her jacket. As they began to clean the boy's burns, the Blair sisters came out of hiding.

"Cinder, I thought you said these people could help us!" Merri yelled when she saw the bodies. "Why did they just do that?!"

Cinder pointed to the bodies of gold Mandalorians. "They were the ones I expected to see," she explained. She then pointed to the white-armored Mandalorians. "I thought all of them were dead or in prison."

"If that's the case, who the heck are they?" Flora asked.

"They're called the Saxon Clan. I met them a long time ago, when they tried to kill another clan of Mandalorians."

"Looks like they're up to their old tricks, then," Fauna said as she pointed back at the bodies.

Cinder nodded and stood up. "And some new ones too. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," said Gretchen. "I got a hunch that says the Grimm are drawn to negativity like this." She pointed to the unconscious student, the sound of him screaming burrowing its way into her mind.

"I think I heard something about other students too," said Merri. "Were we missing other students?"

"I guess so," said Fauna.

"I never noticed," said Flora. "But forget about that. What do we do now?"

Cinder was quick to make a decision. "If what Gretchen thinks is true, then we need to find out what's really going on," she said. "Merri, do you think you can make the walk?"

Merri rubbed her leg and sat down. "I'm kinda sore and I can only limp," she said. "I think I'll need another few minutes before I can walk fine. Or run, if I need to."

"Then stay here," Gretchen ordered. "Cinder and I will take a look around, meet you back here."

Cinder looked back to her other teammates. "Flora, Fauna. If we're not back in five minutes, hide again." She pointed to one of the Mandalorians. "And keep an eye on him."

"You got it," said Fauna. "Good luck."

---

The expedition Cinder and Gretchen took was shorter than they expected. The Saxon Mandalorians were all across the subway system, either on patrol or training. Cinder and Gretchen were hiding above the Mandalorians and watching closely. Cinder's helmet helped her see about three dozen of them.

"They're just patrolling and training," Cinder said as she continued to observe their actions. "Looks like they made some kind of base here."

"Do you see any more students?" Gretchen asked. "There's no way the one we saw was the only one here."

"Definitely not. But I can't tell, they all look the same in that armor."

Gretchen looked past the cluster of Mandalorians and pointed towards a large tunnel. "Over there. What are they doing?"

Cinder looked over to see a large train near a tunnel. More Mandalorians were coming in and out of each car, some of them pulling crates. "Looks like they're loading that train," she observed. "But why? Those tunnels should be sealed."

"Hang on, let me take a look." Gretchen moved over and took out her Scroll, taking pictures of the Mandalorians and the train. "Wait a minute. Cinder, I'm getting a signal down here."

"Wait, what?"

Cinder looked at Gretchen's Scroll, which had a very weak phone signal. Before she could ask how that was possible, Gretchen had an idea. "This tunnel should lead to the city of Vale. If I go in closer, I could get a stronger signal and call for help!"

Cinder looked back at the cave, as well as the numerous Mandalorians. "Do you think you can sneak past all of them?" she asked, unsure if it was worth the risk.

"I don't know. But I have to try. Or else we'll never get out of here."

Cinder knew that Gretchen was right, that calling in for help would provide both safety and an end to whatever the Saxon Clan was up to. And judging by her memories, Cinder knew these Mandalorians would stop at nothing and do whatever they deemed necessary to getting what they wanted. It would take a miracle to get out of the subway alive, and Gretchen's idea was their only hope.

"Okay," the young girl relented. "But I should head back to my team, let them know what we're-"

*RING*

*RING*

*RING*

A loud bell cut off Cinder and made Gretchen cover her ears in surprise. Cinder looked down from where she was to see the Mandalorians running around and grabbing any weapons they could find. Some even used their jetpacks to get off of the ground and fly around the large cavern.

"It's an alarm!" Gretchen realized in shock. "They know we're here!"

Cinder instinctively ran back to the building with Gretchen close behind her. Unfortunately, this left them to become clear targets for the Mandalorians.

Cinder was able to use her Hard-Light shield to block their blasts, but was having trouble outrunning them. Gretchen noticed this and was also having trouble outrunning them. However, she had a plan to slow them down, so Cinder could get back to her team. It was risky, and didn't have a lot of room for survival. But Gretchen knew it was part of her duty as a Huntress.

So Gretchen willingly stopped running and turned to face the Mandalorians. She could tell Cinder stopped running as well, so she simply turned around and told Cinder to keep going. Once her safety was assured, Gretchen reached into her belt and took out two large Dust crystals, both yellow. Bracing herself for a brief moment of pain, Gretchen plunged the crystals into her forearms and activated her Semblance, feeling strength and the power of lightning course through her body.

Gretchen discovered that she shared the same Semblance as her twin brother not long after her encounter with Darth Nihilus. Ever since then, Gretchen could block out any pain she received. At first, she was unwilling to use Hazel's idea of infusing Dust into one's own body, afraid that too much exposure to Dust would affect her health. But there were desperate times, like the one she found herself in at the present moment, when she knew the idea was necessary to both live and fight.

And if it meant the Mandalorians wouldn't get anywhere near Team CMFF, Gretchen Rainart happily took the risk.

Each punch she delivered sent a burst of near-lethal electricity. Whether her fists made impacts with Mandalorians or she sent them in the air, the electricity quickly travelled and sent a painful, destructive attack anywhere the burst made contact. Her Semblance also allowed for the blasts from each gun firing at her to feel like a simple itch of the flesh.

And to make matters better, the Flying Wing that belonged to the Blair sisters flew through the air and struck three Mandalorians before returning to its masters. Team CMFF had joined the fight, and were prepared to finally take this fight to the Saxon Clan.

"Attention! Attention! All Mandalorians are to clear the underground and proceed to the train! Repeat! All Mandalorians to the train!"

The message on a loudspeaker caused the Saxon Mandalorians to turn in the other direction and make their way towards the large train, leaving Gretchen and Team CMFF dazed and confused.

"I thought you said these tunnels were sealed," said Merri, who disassembled the Flying Wing and gave her sisters one sickle.

"They are," said Gretchen, who removed the two crystals from her arms. "I don't know why they'd be going there."

"Well, they're taking the train somewhere," said Cinder, who began to run towards the train. "Come on, let's go!"

Gretchen and her teammates followed closely behind her. When they managed to reach the train, they saw that it was indeed on the move. Fortunately, it's slow departure gave time for everyone to jump on. Only when it began to pick up speed did everyone grab something to hold onto.

"What's the plan, Cinder?!" Fauna yelled as she desperately held onto the metal exterior

"We need to make our way towards the front car!" Cinder declared as she opened a door on top of the train's caboose. "Everyone get in-Look out!"

As soon as Cinder opened the roof door, she saw a Mandalorian squatting and aiming his jetpack's rocket at the ceiling. Once he fired, the rocket made contact with the metal ceiling, causing the metal and earth to come crashing down.

Gretchen and Team CMFF ran faster than they ever had in their lives to evade the metal and earth. The caboose began to shake before it was disconnected from the rest of the train. Before they could mention the mere stupidity of the Mandalorian inside the caboose, the train car they were on suddenly detached itself. As soon as they jumped back to the main train, a rocket escaped from the roof and repeated the same action as the caboose.

"What's going on?!" Flora cried out, unable to understand why the cars were blowing themselves up.

Cinder quickly ran over and opened the next roof, seeing yet another Mandalorian about to detach the car from the train. She immediately jumped down and stabbed him with her sword. Her team and Gretchen quickly followed her inside.

"They want to detach each car from the train," Cinder realized. "They must have figured out we were on top, and tried to stop us by blowing up the cars."

"But that's suicide!" Merri declared, unable to see the logic behind the clan's actions.

"I don't think they care. They'll do whatever it takes to get what they want, and now that's us."

"Then we shouldn't waste any time. Let's get to the front before the whole train splits apart."

Cinder nodded and prepared to open the door to the next car. The sisters followed her lead, as did Gretchen. As they were leaving, the train car detached and a Mandalorian fired at them. Cinder's Beskar protected her and allowed her to stop the Mandalorian from firing a rocket. They immediately kept running to the next car, which was just an roofless, open space. Three Mandalorians began to shoot their rifles, barely missing the five girls.

When they hit the ground, one Mandalorian fired a missile from his jetpack. The projectile hit the train car, but it didn't detach like the others. This gave the Blair sisters a chance to run and attack the Mandalorians. The speed Merri and her sisters ran at allowed them to grab each Mandalorian and land a few punches before throwing them off the train. Cinder and Gretchen had just recovered from the explosion and caught up with them.

"Good work," said Cinder. "Glad to see you were paying attention in class."

*BOOM*

The girls turned around to see the ceiling explode once more, given that one of the Mandalorians who was thrown off the train used their rocket to blow it up. The others were flying back towards the train, only to be shot down by two of Cinder's arrows.

"Let's keep going," said Flora. "All this fire is making me worried."

"I think we have bigger problems than fire," said Gretchen, who was looking past the cars and the destroyed tunnels. "Look!"

Cinder lowered her helmet's range-finder to see something moving among the debris. The disappearing dust cloud revealed the objects to be Creatures of Grimm. Beowolves, Ursai, Taijitus, Creeps, and even Death Stalkers were all following the train from the holes created by the explosions.

"They're leading Grimm to the city!" Gretchen yelled to the shocked students. "When each train car explodes, they create an opening for the Grimm!"

"This wasn't some kind of base for the clan!" said Cinder, who looked up towards the front of the train. "It's an invasion!" She looked back to her team. "Merri, Flora, Fauna! Go below and see if you can stop any more cars from detaching! Gretchen and I will work our way to the front car!"

"We'll meet you there!" Merri said as she and her sisters jumped down.

Cinder looked back to the top of the car to see more Mandalorians coming out of the cars and onto the roofs. Cinder looked back at Gretchen, who was taking two more large crystals out of her belt. "Are you ready?" she asked calmly.

"As I'll ever be," the Huntress said as she plunged Fire Dust into her arms.

And with that, the two charged through each Mandalorian. Cinder's battles took longer than Gretchen's, given that she couldn't use Dust like the Huntress. But when she saw the distance between them was considerable, Cinder took a chance and used part of her Maiden powers to take care of her opponents. Fire and wind both contributed to the fall of the Saxon Mandalorians, leaving her with a chance to rejoin Gretchen.

"You okay?" Gretchen asked when Cinder caught up with her.

"Never better," said Cinder. "How about you?"

"I'm not feeling pain, but I think I'll be feeling some in the morning."

Cinder looked over Gretchen's torso, which showed numerous cuts and bruises the Mandalorians inflicted on her. "Yeah, no arguments there. How much further to the front car?"

Gretchen looked towards the end of the tunnel. "Should be a few more cars. Come on!" The girls quickly ran across the train cars, getting closer and closer to the front car.

Suddenly, the metal underneath them began to disappear, leaving nothing for Cinder and Gretchen to stand on. They fell into the car behind the front locomotive, and at the mercy of a red and white Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian shot a round of Electricity Dust into Gretchen's chest. She had removed her crystals and stopped using her Semblance, which left her helpless against the blast of Dust. He then sent a kick to Cinder's head, causing her helmet to fall off.

"You again?!" the Mandalorian shouted as he raised his blaster to Cinder's head. But the Maiden was quick to not only dodge the shot, but also kick the Mandalorian's weapon from his grasp. And after a few seconds, Cinder began to understand what he meant.

"You!" she screamed when she stood up. "You're the one who worked with Gideon! You helped him kidnap me!"

"Looks like we're on the same page, then."

It may have been five years since the two first met, but Gar Saxon remembered everybody who almost eliminated his clan. And Cinder remembered every detail about one of the worst days of her life, especially the people who tried to convince her that her father was dead.

Each combatant held a deep animosity for the other, and were prepared to display that animosity through their actions. Saxon was first when he sent a blast of lightning through his hand, which Cinder dodged. The bolt hit the metal door behind them, disintegrating it completely.

Cinder was surprised at the feat, remembering that Gar Saxon's Semblance could only disintegrate Beskar. She simply assumed that his Semblance evolved and remembered that she would have to be careful with her Beskar. So she sent a wave of fire towards him.

Suddenly, Cinder noticed that not only Gretchen was laying on the ground, but the rest of her team as well. They too must have met Gar Saxon and he must have removed them from the equation. This distraction allowed for Saxon to tackle Cinder to the ground and begin to choke her by pressing his rifle against her throat. He then took his hand and began to use his Semblance once more, preparing to disintegrate her armor.

"I have to admit, you put a lot of work into this suit," he said as he began to feel victory was in his grasp. "But do you really think this makes you like me, brat?"

Cinder kept a firm grasp on the gun and began to use her Semblance, feeling the metal begin to break into pieces. "I'm... not... like you," she choked out before the gun broke in her hands. She then punched Saxon in the throat, causing him to fall back. "I'm better."

Saxon recovered from the attack and got into a fighting stance. "Let's put that to a test."

Cinder thought back to her father's training and got into her own fighting stance. "Gladly."

The Mandalorians rushed at each other, sending fists and kicks toward each other. One strike knocked Cinder away from Saxon, but she was able to wrap a wire around his wrist and pull. Saxon resisted the force Cinder was displaying and tried to pull away. Cinder took this chance to stop pulling and let her fly towards Saxon, sending another punch to his throat.

Saxon was using his Aura to block the attack, but stumbled back to the wall of the train. Cinder launched a ball of fire at Saxon, destroying part of the wall. But Saxon was still standing and sent his own fire towards the Maiden.

Cinder used her flamethrower to block Saxon's flame, not noticing him send a kick to her gut. This time, it was Cinder who crashed into the wall and left herself open to attack. Saxon delivered heavy punches to her face, causing her Aura to flicker. So she ducked just in time, making Saxon's fist crash into the metal. She then punched his stomach, which was unprotected.

The wind was knocked out of Saxon's lungs, disorienting him long enough for Cinder to pick him up and body slam to the ground. Saxon's Aura flickered, but he continued to fight by swiping his feet and knocking Cinder to the floor.

Before anyone could attack again, part of the floor gave way. Both Mandalorians looked back to see an Ursa Major had gotten close to the train and was breaking it with its bare hands. Seeing an opportunity in front of her, Cinder used her Maiden powers to blast away from the Grimm and Saxon. Quickly forming a fist and turning it counter-clockwise, metal discs shot from her gauntlet. The sharp spikes stabbed into Saxon's hand as well as the metal floor, making escape unfeasible.

And once the Ursa took out another part of the floor, Gar Saxon finally fell out of the train and joined his clan.

Content with her work and finally able to rest, Cinder took heavy breaths and kneeled on the ground. After resting for a minute, she looked back to Gretchen and her team. Seeing that they were starting to regain consciousness, she helped them stand and looked them over for any wounds.

"Are you alright?" Cinder asked as she helped Merri stand.

"I'm good," she said. "Just a killer headache."

"I think... there was another Mando here," Fauna said as she held her head. "Saying something... something about the brake."

"I remember," said Flora. "He said..." Fear began to show itself on Flora's face. "He said the brake had been cut. No way to fix it."

Gretchen ran inside the locomotive and looked at the controls. And given the fact the lever for the brake was on the ground, she knew the Mandalorian wasn't lying. She also knew they were all in trouble.

Cinder took another look back at her team and Gretchen while making a plan. She knew that she was the only one who could kill the horde of Grimm behind her, but she also knew she would be exposing herself to her present company. So taking care of them was her first step in securing everyone's safety.

"Gretchen, do you have any more Ice Dust?!" she asked frantically.

"What?!" Gretchen asked. "Yeah, of course! I have plenty!"

"Do you think you can make a shell thick enough to block out the crash?!"

"I think so!"

Cinder pointed to the train's control room. "Take everyone else and make one! I have to get this door closed!"

Gretchen did as she was told and went inside the control room. Taking out two large Dust crystals, she prepared to infuse herself with them. But before she did, the Huntress looked back to see Cinder looking back at the Grimm. "Cinder, get in-!"

*SLAM*

Cinder closed the door and closed her eyes. Once they opened and fire burned, she pressed her palm on the door. Fire began to burn in her palm and the metal began to melt. Working fast, Cinder moved her hand down to make the metal of the door and the wall fuse together, welding the two together. She could hear Gretchen pounding on the door and her name being called over and over again. But Cinder turned away and looked back at the Grimm.

Cinder was unable to make out the exact number of the forces before her, but she knew there was enough to launch a full-scale invasion against Vale. Its people would be powerless against them, with or without the help of the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Vale. But against the power of a Maiden, at least a vast majority would be out of the picture.

To say that Cinder learned a lot from Professor Ozpin would be an understatement. She knew all of her training, all of her time learning about the power of the Maidens had led up to this very moment. And in the end, she would be putting the power to its original purpose; protecting the people of Remnant. So when she closed her eyes once more, Cinder concentrated on the elements around her. Not just the fire that she was creating, but also the earth and air of the tunnel.

It was a feat she tried before, to connect with the world around her. Her father described it when he encountered the previous Fall Maiden, when she was able to move stone with her powers. With Ozpin's instructions, Cinder was able to perform feats similar to her predecessor, but it came at the cost of physical exhaustion. Cinder knew that she couldn't let that stop her now, so she concentrated on her connection to the earth, hoping her plan would work.

Suddenly, the walls around the train began to crumble. The earth and stone behind the metal began to form cracks before they all came tumbling down in front of the Grimm. Some were crushed, but the majority of the monsters climbed the stone and began to charge once more. But Cinder was far from done with her work. She concentrated even harder than before, tuning out the pounding of the door behind her and the constant cries of the Grimm. Her concentration allowed for her powers to connect with the elements around her, and walls closer to the train began to crumble like before.

Cinder's hands and legs felt like they were carrying the weight of the world as she continued to use her powers in a way uncommon for Maidens her age. Her nose began to bleed and stress was building up throughout her body, but Cinder did nothing but ignore the pain and focus on her connection. Once the roof of earth began to crumble and fall down towards her, Cinder finally opened her eyes and pushed her hands forward. Once she did, a gust of wind from her left hand knocked the rubble towards the Grimm and a wave of fire from her right hand came into direct contact with the rocks.

The mantle rocks that collided with the fire didn't burn, but they instead began to melt. Other rocks and metal that came into contact with the fire also began to melt, as Cinder controlled the fire perfectly enough to prevent simple burning. The melted rock began to transform into a molten substance, one that expand across the ground and melt the earth on the ground. And when the Grimm were unfortunate to step on it, they howled in pain as they burned. While Beowolves and Ursai tried and failed to turn back due to their limbs burning, Taijitus felt their underbellies melt and turn into nothing. Alpha Grimm were smart enough to climb the walls instead, but they collapsed and joined the magma Cinder created.

The Fall Maiden observed her work and felt a sense of satisfaction as her plan came to fruition. But she also felt overwhelmed as the pain of her body spread like the magma on the ground. With extreme reluctance, Cinder dropped to the floor of the train.

And everything went black when the train crashed at the end of the track.

---

Author's notes: hey everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long, things have been super busy lately. But my winter break is coming up soon, so I'll have a lot more time to write.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I think I mentioned this before, but I am going more into RWBY-canon territory right now. I know it sounds kind of strange, but it's necessary for my plans in the future. I'm not trying to be lazy with my writing, it's just the path I have planned kinda relies on RWBY-canon. So I hope you understand and are still able to enjoy the story.

Also, thanks to the users who helped me choose colors for Cinder's armor! I'll go into a little more detail on how her armor is exactly colored next chapter, I don't think I was very clear in this one.

To Rider126, hope I was able to clear things up in this chapter. No, it's not Djarin's age, it was due to an injury while on a mission. The age idea is misleading so Cinder can continue to make her own path at Beacon.

To hirshja, I understand what you mean. I am trying to make Cinder shift into a role that doesn't rely on Djarin, like how she was when she was a child. The age idea is just something Djarin made up so Cinder wouldn't know about his near-death experience. Hope this clears things up.

To Blueghast900, thank you for the color suggestions! And I'm really glad you liked the last chapter, hope you enjoyed this one!

To 54godamora, I can't say too much right now, but this chapter may have given some hints. Hope you enjoyed it.

To Dasgun, I still don't know if you're surprised in a good way or a bad way. I just hope you're enjoying the story.

Toluisrey20019, thank you for the color suggestions! Hope you're enjoying the story!

To Ri2, glad you like the team! Hope you're enjoying the story!

Well, that's all I have for now. Thank you so much for your patience and I really hope you're enjoying the story. Please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments, even if you didn't like it very much. And thank you to the new favs and follows while I wasn't writing, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. See you next time!