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.

36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: The Festival

After many weeks of planning and preparing, the Vytal Festival had finally commenced in Vale. Citizens from all around the world had arrived from air and sea to partake in the parades, dances, and the rest of the events. All which celebrated the end of Remnant's Great War and the beginning of a peace that had lasted for nearly eighty years.

While many others chose not to make the trip to Vale, they made sure to enjoy the celebration through their TV screens. One particular event was going to be watched by many families, but one such family was arguably more excited than the rest. And now they were just about ready to proudly watch a family member be a part of this event.

"Hurry up, Whitley!" a young girl shouted as she ran through the large hall she found herself in. "We're going to miss the first fight!"

"We really shouldn't be running, Weiss," a younger boy replied to his sister as he slowly but surely followed her lead. "Mother and Klein wouldn't be happy to find me sweating like this." He looked down at his formal dress clothes. "This shirt is brand new."

Weiss was annoyed by her brother's laziness and apparent lack of interest in seeing what she wanted to see. The room her family was to be gathered in was at the end of the hall, and she could hear what sounded like someone talking on a TV. Seeing that she was already late, Weiss had an idea to get herself and her brother to the room.

She quickly ran back to him and grabbed his hand before putting her other hand on the ground. A white Glyph appeared at their feet. "Hang on, Whitley!" she ordered.

Unfortunately, her brother knew exactly what was going to happen. "Wait, no, not agAIN!" he cried as he felt himself fly towards the end of the hall with his sister. Once they stopped flying from the boost the Glyph gave, Whitley let go and tried to make the room stop spinning.

"Weiss," a woman's voice said as she walked up to the children. "What have I told you about using your Semblance in the house?" She looked at Whitley and picked him up. "You know your brother's not used to this sort of thing."

"Sorry, Mother," Weiss sincerely apologized. "I just didn't want to miss Winter's fight."

Willow Schnee looked at her daughter and smiled. "Well, don't worry; you didn't." She walked over to a large couch and put Whitley down before inviting Weiss to sit with her. "The first fight started, but it's not Winter's team. It's Cinder's."

"Cinder?!" Weiss quickly ran over to the TV and sat as close to it as possible, where she saw two teams fighting in an arena of debris and a forest. "Teach those hoodlums respect, Cinder!"

Willow laughed as she picked up her daughter and moved her to the couch so her eyes wouldn't hurt. Just as she did, two men appeared on the screen. Willow recognized them as Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck.

"For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament, broadcast live from the Amity Colosseum!" said Professor Port, who waved his arm to gesture at the event.

"How exciting!" Willow said as she continued to watch the screen. While her daughter shared her excitement, Whitley wasn't very interested. In fact, he was confused as to how come this event was so long and how it actually went.

"If this is your first time watching, allow us to break down the rules," Port said.

Doctor Oobleck spoke right after him, much faster than his colleague. "The tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds; teams, doubles, and singles. Age and school year are irrelevant! In this tournament, your only attribute being tested... is skill."

"Correct!" Port confirmed as a hologram popped up to display this idea. "The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the doubles round, followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance once again. The remaining combatants will then fight their way through the final bracket in the hope of achieving victory for their Kingdom!"

"And yes, Peter, these certainly are some spectacular spectacles on which to spectate on!" said Oobleck. "I don't think anyone tuning in around the world is going to disagree with me on that!"

"No, sir!" Weiss said.

"Ahh, and why would they?" Port rhetorically asked. "Now, let's get back to the match between Team CMFF of Beacon and Team VILT of Haven!"

The electronic screen changed to show the mentioned teams fighting each other across the arena. Cinder was engaged in a sword duel with the team leader, Violet Evergreen. Merri was facing against Iris Canary, a sharpshooter with twin pistols. Flora was working to gain the upper hand against Leon Shell in hand-to-hand, and Fauna was trying to avoid every swing from a double-bladed sword belonging to Taylor Brown.

The sound of footsteps just outside the doorframe caught the attention of the Schnee Family, where they saw a short man with a brown mustache and brown eyes carrying a tray of food and a teapot.

"Did I miss anything?" the man asked as he stepped inside.

"The first fight just started, Klein," Willow replied.

The man's eyes suddenly changed from brown to red. "Rats!" he said in a deeper voice. "I knew I should have started earlier!"

"Don't worry, Klein," Weiss said to the family butler. "Winter's not fighting yet, it's Cinder's team."

Klein's eyes changed once more, this time to a soft yellow. "Ah, wonderful!" He then prepared to serve the family. "Your tea, Mrs. Schnee." He poured a hot liquid from the teapot into a cup.

"Thank you, Klein."

"And Weiss' morning coffee."

The little girl smiled. "Thank you, Klein."

"And a plate of crepes for Master Whitley."

The young boy smiled as well. "My favorite," he said. "Thank you, Klein."

The butler smiled as he turned to the TV and watched with the family. There, they saw all four pairs of combatants fighting each other. Even though Cinder had one more sword than Violet, the combatants were equally matched. All of their attacks were either blocked or missed. Violet was even able to block Midnight with her arms, which had metal armor covering them. Neither of them had used up much Aura.

Merri had used up a significant amount of Aura, given that she couldn't avoid every bullet Iris shot at her. However, her attempts allowed her to see that her enemy kept her ammo at her waist. This allowed her to make a plan, but she needed her sisters' help first.

While Fauna was blocking and moving Taylor's sword with her sickle, Flora was able to do well against her opponent. Her strategy was just like the one the Mandalorian had taught her: by breaking the man instead of breaking his defense. And the Schnees could hear it from their TV.

"Wow, was that it?!" Flora yelled after being hit. "I've seen better swings on playgrounds!"

Leon angrily sent more swings at Flora. While some hit and others missed, Flora maintained her composure and sent insult after insult at Leon. "Shut up!" the boy cried as he sent a fist to her face. But Flora was able to avoid it and use her sickle to cut his chest and back. She then used it to hook his leg and make him trip, where she proceeded to kick him and jump on his stomach.

While the boy was recovering, Flora ran close to Merri. "Hey, sis!" she cried. "Catch!" She then threw her sickle to her sister, who caught it right as she dodged one more bullet. Merri then connected the two weapons at their hilts to throw them at Iris. The girl expected the throw to be at her head, but the sickles went to her side and cut her belt. In turn, her holsters and ammo fell down, which gave Merri a chance to charge at her and use the hand-to-hand she learned from class to help her.

Cinder had decided to change her strategy to fight Violet, even though it would cost her some Aura. Quickly merging Midnight into a bow, she used her free hand to catch the girl's blade. She then applied her Aura to enhance her grip and activated her Semblance to make the blade melt. Violet saw what was happening and tried to kick Cinder's gut, but her Aura blocked out the pain.

"Oh, and Mr. Shell has been eliminated!" Port's voice called out.

The TV showed a replay of Flora knocking out Leon with a kick to his throat, causing a massive drop in Aura. When Cinder noticed this, Violet's blade had broken and left her with what could be compared to a knife. As she stared at the blade, Cinder fired an arrow at Taylor to stop her from fighting Fauna.

"Fauna needs the Flying Wing!" Cinder called out to her teammates. Merri nodded as she threw the two sickles to her sister while she and Flora performed a tag-team attack on Iris, who had begun to use the blunt ends of her guns as weapons.

Fauna barely managed to catch the sickles before they flew into the trees behind her, but this left her open to a slice to the chest from Taylor.

"It appears Fauna's Aura is dangerously close to the red!" Oobleck said through his microphone. "One more hit, and Team CMFF will be down one member!"

Fauna knew that she would need to make her next attack count when she fell on the ground. So when Taylor sent her sword towards her opponent's chest, Fauna used the two combined sickles to move the blade and the third one to swipe at Taylor's throat.

"Oh-ho!" Port exclaimed. "I don't think Ms. Brown was expecting that!"

Even though she was down some Aura, Taylor wasn't down for the count. She had managed to retrieve the blade and swung it at Fauna, but the Flying Wing caught it and spun, taking the sword out of the young girl's grasp. She then fell victim to the sickles that struck her when Fauna jumped back and threw the Flying Wing.

"And Taylor Brown has been eliminated!"

As Fauna smiled in pride of her victory, she didn't notice that Iris had recovered one magazine for her pistol and fired it at her back.

"Fauna Blair has been eliminated!" Oobleck said.

Cinder wished she could have helped Fauna as well as her other teammates, but Violet was proving herself to be a stubborn warrior. She had managed to recover the piece of the sword that had broken and was still using the shorter end to fight her opponent. Cinder chose to use both her swords, given it was hard for Violet to block the second blade.

Merri and Flora were racing to recover the Flying Wing while avoiding the bullets Iris was firing at them. Flora's Aura was approaching closer and closer into the red zone, so she pushed her sister ahead and let herself be open to the remaining ammunition.

"Flora Blair has been eliminated!" Oobleck cried out.

"This is for you, Flora!" Merri cried out as she threw each sickle at Iris. While the girl avoided the first one, Merri threw the second sickle where Iris landed. Once Iris was hit, Merri sent the last one her way, causing her Aura to break.

"Iris Brown has been eliminated!" Oobleck said.

Cinder realized that she could end the match at the present moment. Dropping her swords, she grabbed both of Violet's wrists, which still had the metal on them. Activating her Semblance once more, Cinder burned the metal and watched as Violet felt her skin burning. To finish her off, and not wanting to burn her more, Cinder sent a head-butt to Violet's forehead and watched her fall to the ground.

"And that's the match!" Port called out. "Team CMFF is victorious!"

"Yay!" Weiss yelled as she clapped. "They won!"

"My word," Klein said as he stared at the screen.

"Oh, my," said Willow. "That was a close one for all of them."

"Well, that was... interesting," said Whitley, who had become mildly entertained after watching the fight.

"Come on, Whitley," his sister said. "Weren't you even a little excited?"

"Not really. Aren't people supposed to fight the Grimm instead of each other?"

Willow giggled as she looked at her son. "You'll understand when you're older, Whitley." She looked at the screen and saw that the next match would begin in twenty minutes. "Okay. Who needs a bathroom break?"

---

"Drink up, girls!"

Cinder and the Blair sisters all raised the paper cups of water they got after the fight and downed them in a single gulp. In order to properly celebrate their victory over Team VILT, they immediately decided to take an airship to the fairgrounds below Amity. Their plan was to get something to eat, maybe participate in some of the games that were set up, and then head back to the Colosseum to watch another fight. It seemed that fighting was the only thing on their minds when they were talking.

"Man, I thought that girl would never run out of ammo!" said Merri, who looked over her weapon. "I should see if there's a blacksmith at the fairgrounds."

"You think you had it tough?" Fauna asked her sister. "That bimbo with the double-bladed sword cut some of my hair!" She was using her Scroll as a mirror to see that some of her hair was indeed missing. "This is so embarrassing! I hope that black eye I gave her is throbbing right now."

"Come on, that's a good look!" Flora encouraged her sister. "But speaking of looks, I swear that guy was totally checking me out before the fight started. You think he'll forgive me for toying with him like that?" A sly smile formed on her lips. "I bet I could make it up to him."

"I wouldn't count on it," Cinder replied with a smile. "Their leader was playing to win when she was fighting me. Not that I mind, it's been a while since I had a sword fight like that." Cinder stopped smiling. "Something tells me they don't like the idea of losing the first round."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Oh, well. Plenty of fish in the sea."

"Speaking of fish, you think there's seafood at the fairgrounds?"

"Eh, pass. Fish meat isn't real meat."

"Definitely not."

"Man, it's always meat with you girls!" Cinder rolled her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever understand your obsession with it."

"No, you won't," Merri agreed. "But if you need a change of pace, I think I heard about a noodle place somewhere."

"Sounds good. Let's go."

As soon as the airship landed, Team CMFF walked to the fairgrounds. On their way, they passed by Beacon students who weren't participating in the tournament as well as citizens who watched their fight. All of them congratulated the Huntress students as they looked for the restaurant Merri had mentioned.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Cinder's Scroll began to vibrate in the pocket of her jeans. Quickly pulling it out, she saw the screen had one word on it.

DAD

Rather than answer the call, Cinder let out a saddened sigh and declined it.

---

Three nights ago

For some reason, the simple act of opening her eyes was hard for Cinder. While doing so, she felt that her eyelids were extremely heavy, as if someone was pressing against them as tightly as they could. It took her three tries to finally get them open, and she found a surprise for her. Not a complete surprise, but enough for her to wonder what was going on.

She was sitting in between the rest of Team CMFF.

"Oh, hey!" Flora said with excitement as she playfully nudged her leader's arm. "Finally, you're awake!"

"Hi, Cinder," said Merri. "How's it going?"

"...Huh?" Cinder asked, still feeling incredibly tired. "Where are we?"

"In an airship," Fauna explained. "We should be back at Beacon soon."

"Beacon? Why are we going there?"

"Well, look outside."

Cinder obeyed and was in for another surprise; it was dark outside. Not twilight or sunset, but dark enough for it to be called the middle of the night. "Whoa," she said. "How did it get so late?" She remembered it being the afternoon when she last looked out a window.

"Well, what do you expect?" Merri asked with a small laugh.

Cinder looked back to her friend. "What do you mean?"

"That's what happens when time flies by, Cinder. Heck, you spent hours talking to your mom in Vale."

"...I did? Really?"

"Uh-huh. How else can you explain the night?"

"..."

Cinder looked outside one more time before thinking back on her day. She remembered her team taking her to her mother, and the two of them talking about various things; but she had no idea that it took so long. Cinder simply assumed that she lost track of time in her excitement, as well as her mixed feelings.

"...Huh," she said as she rubbed her eyes. "Guess I lost track of time. And maybe her singing put me to sleep."

"Singing?" Fauna asked.

"Oh, yeah." Cinder turned to Fauna. "We were getting to know each other for a while. Last thing I remember was her telling me she used to sing."

"Cool!" Flora exclaimed. "Was she good?"

Cinder looked back to Flora. "Yeah, she really was. I think she was more into opera, since that was what she was singing."

"That's nice," said Merri. "How'd everything else go?"

"Well, I got some questions answered," Cinder explained. "Found out my name, found out where I was from, and I found out who my fa-" Cinder suddenly stopped talking when she remembered what Ms. Collins had said about her father. More explicitly, she remembered the Mandalorian helmet that was recovered from a deadly scene.

"Hello in there!" said Flora, who waved her hand in front of Cinder's eyes to get her attention. When Cinder blinked and looked back to Flora, she heard her teammate speak again. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, sorry." Cinder looked at each of her teammates, who had already picked up the signs that something was bothering her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it, since the young girl couldn't make heads or tails out of the situation herself. Nevertheless, the cat seemed to be out of the bag for her. And she would need to practice her poker face so she couldn't talk to Djarin about it. "Hey... can you all keep a secret?" Cinder asked.

Merri and Fauna nodded while Flora tapped her forehead, chest, and shoulders. "Father, Son, and Team CMFF," she jokingly said. When she received a pull of her hair from Merri, she quickly became serious. "I mean, we can keep a secret."

Cinder took a deep breath. "Okay. So, uh... I found out a lot about both my parents. Specifically, my father."

"Your father?" Merri asked. "Hold on. Did he split on your mom when he found out she was pregnant with you?"

"Ugh," Fauna groaned. "Those people suck. You know, our dad did something like that to Mother."

"I hate that guy," said Flora.

"No, it wasn't like that," Cinder said to make the girls remember the situation at hand. "He... died. Well, he was killed when his airship crashed."

"...Oh," Merri whispered. "S-Sorry to hear that."

Cinder nodded. "It gets worse. His ship was destroyed on purpose."

"Oh, so it was the Grimm," Fauna assumed.

Cinder shook her head this time. "It gets worse. It wasn't something. It was someone, or a group of people."

"A group?" Flora asked. "Like bandits? I heard there were a lot of them in Mistral, if that's where he was."

Cinder shook her head once again. "Worse." She then took out her Beskar necklace and stared at the animal. "Ms. Collins found something when she tried to find her husband at the scene. Something the authorities wasn't able to find. It was a helmet. A Mandalorian helmet."

The Blair sisters gasped at the revelation. They knew Cinder's secret would be big, but this was certainly something nobody expected to hear.

"Mandalorians... killed your father?" Flora asked, forsaking any kind of tact in her search for the truth.

Cinder nodded. "All this time... after everything I did... I had no idea," she sadly confessed. "When I met her, I wanted to tell her everything. How I was adopted, how I became a great fighter, and how I wore this necklace with pride." Tears began to fall down her face. "But I had to hide all of this. And now... I've never been more scared of wearing this than I am now."

The girls knew that being a part of a Huntress team meant having certain responsibilities. One of them was seeing through one or more of their teammates through thick and thin, to help them where they needed it more than anything.

But for the life of them, they had no idea what to say to Cinder. So instead of offering any semblance of assistance, they decided to watch her let out all of her fear and sadness. Aside from Cinder's soft weeps, Team CMFF was silent for the rest of the trip.

They didn't say a word.

---

Present-day

Cinder was still unsure what to say to her father, how to tell him everything. And now she was running out of excuses. Nevertheless, she was able to send a quick text to him.

"Celebrating with the girls. Don't want to leave them right now."

The Mandalorian responded right away.

"I just wanted to say good job with the fight."

Cinder smiled and responded.

"Thank you."

When Cinder looked away from her Scroll, she saw the Blair sisters sitting at one of the festival stands. An old man with balding gray hair was quickly fixing them bowls of hot noodles, large enough to make eating later almost impossible.

Cinder quickly joined her team and pulled out her wallet to pay the chef. "Thank you," she said with a smile as she handed him four pieces of Lien. The old man smiled and nodded as he took the money and left the girls to their own devices.

"Hold up, girls!" Fauna ordered as she reached into her pocket. She then pulled out a small plastic bag of leftover meat and put some of it onto her noodles. Flora took the bag and added meat to her own noodles.

"You've been carrying that in your pocket this whole time?" Cinder asked.

"That's just stupid," said Merri. "Not that I'm complaining or anything." She took the bag and applied Flora's cooked meat onto her own noodles before handing it to Cinder.

"Hm, no thanks."

Merri took the bag and applied the finishing meat to her noodles. Before she ate, she noticed Fauna patting herself down, as if she was looking for something. "You okay, sis?" Merri asked.

"I'm so stupid," the girl in green responded. "I remembered the meat, but I think I forgot my wallet."

"No need for that." Merri pointed to Cinder. "Our noble leader took care of the bill."

"Oh. Thanks, Cinder." She then began to eat her food, savoring each bite like her sisters did.

"Well, this seems like a proper reward."

Team CMFF looked to the right, where they saw a female Atlesian student, followed by another girl wearing a big smile and a large sun hat over her red hair.

"Winter! Penny!" Cinder addressed her friends with a smile.

"A pleasure to see you, Cinder," said Winter, who formed a small smile.

Before Cinder could say anything else, Merri stood up from her seat to have a better look at Cinder's friends. "Oh, this is the famous Winter!" she said as she examined the Atlesian. "Our leader's told us a lot about you."

"I see. In order to prepare for in the tournament, I presume?"

"More or less. Hope you were paying attention to the fight."

"We were." Winter gestured to Penny. "My friend and I counted a total thirteen missed strikes."

Flora and Fauna responded the same way. "Oh, snap!"

Cinder stood in between her friends as she laughed. "Alright, settle down," she requested. "Let's save that spirit for the tournament."

"Come on, Cinder," Merri said. "Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition."

"Agreed," said Winter. "And there's nothing wrong with getting to know your potential opponent." Winter cleared her throat. "As you know, I'm Winter Schnee. This is Penny Polendina."

"Salutations!" Penny exclaimed with a wave.

"Merri Blair," the girl in blue introduced herself. "These are my sisters Flora and Fauna. Not very intimidating, I know."

"Hey!" both sisters replied.

"Pleasure to meet you," said Winter. "I hope you don't mind if we don't join you. It seems unwise to eat something this big before a fight. We just wanted to congratulate you all for advancing."

Penny turned to Cinder. "And to see who may be advancing to the doubles round!" she said.

Winter closed her eyes and breathed heavily. "I wasn't going to tell them that, Penny."

"Oh! Sorry..."

Cinder laughed off the mistake. "No worries," she said. "We were actually wondering the same thing." The Maiden turned to one specific teammate. "Flora, you've improved a lot since we trained. And I think you're the one who missed the least amount of shots."

"Okay, yeah," Flora said. "But you don't wanna talk about this in private?"

"Don't worry. I got a feeling these two are gonna be in the doubles." She decided to add a little sass of her own. "If they win."

"Don't worry," said Winter, who sat down with Penny. "We will."

Cinder laughed again. "Wow, Winter. You're normally not like this."

"I hope you'll forgive me for being excited." Winter looked around. "I've seen the Vytal Festival tournament before, with my family. I never thought I'd be living it."

"Neither did we," Fauna said as she pointed to her sisters. "Up close and personal, the feeling's wicked different."

"Then, I'll have to see it for myself," Winter said, who began to calm herself and mentally prepare for the battle ahead. But the same couldn't be said for Penny.

"I too will see this experience for myself!" She raised her hand to her face and saluted, moving it immediately. "I'm combat read-Oops!" Her sun hat almost fell off, but she quickly fixed it. She didn't want anyone to see why she was wearing a hat, so she stood up. "Um, excuse me." She quickly took off.

"Is she okay?" Cinder asked, unable to remember the last time Penny displayed any signs of being embarrassed.

"I'm not sure," said Winter. "She's really been paying attention to that hat."

"She probably has a big zit or something," said Flora. "Been there."

Cinder knew that was impossible, since she knew Penny's true nature. "I'll go check on her," she said as she stood up.

Merri stood up as well, but faster than Cinder. "Hang on," she said. "I'll come with you."

"No!" Cinder cried out in fear. When she realized how that sounded, she quickly cleared her throat and made a lie. "No, um, Penny's a little shy sometimes. It'd be better if I go alone."

"Okay."

Cinder nodded and looked to her other teammates. "Girls, be nice to Winter." She then walked away from the stand and looked around for Penny.

And surprisingly, she found her friend out on the outskirts of the nearby forest, having removed her hat and holding her hand against her forehead.

"Penny, are you okay?" Cinder asked, causing the girl to jump. "What's wrong?"

After reassuring herself that Cinder already knew her secret, Penny turned around and revealed what was the source of her current problem; a large black magnet had unfortunately stuck itself to her metal head. And when she tried to pull it off, her hand became stuck as well.

"It has been here since I left the General's airship," she shyly said to her friend.

Cinder did the best she could to keep a calm composure, but couldn't help but laugh for a few seconds. "Oh, Penny!" she said after she stopped laughing. "You should have said something! Hang on, let me help."

Cinder was able to pull Penny's hand off, but the magnet was being extraordinarily stubborn about leaving. Cinder moved closer into the tree lines to hide her efforts in order to prevent anyone asking why there was a magnet stuck to Penny's head.

After about a minute of pulling, Cinder took a closer look at the magnet. "Hm, this looks like a large electromagnet," she said. "Maybe I can disconnect the battery." Cinder carefully used her Semblance to melt the end of the magnet. "Sorry if this hurts."

"It is fine," Penny replied. "I have set my pain sensors to their lowest setting."

"Oh. Good to know." Cinder continued to melt the metal. "There's still a lot I gotta learn about you, Penny."

"There is a lot I wish to learn as well."

"Oh, yeah?" Cinder had created a hole on the back of the battery, where she saw multiple small wires. "Like avoiding magnets?"

Penny laughed. "I have already learned that, silly. I actually want to learn more about being a Huntress."

Cinder put two fingers inside the case. "Well, Atlas Academy seems like the right place for you."

"Actually, Cinder... I want to stay at Beacon."

"Wait, what?!"

Cinder pulled back her fingers and accidentally pushed Penny down in shock. The magnet finally came off and Penny rubbed the part of her head as she sat up.

"Sorry, sorry!" Cinder hastily apologized as she helped Penny stand up. "I just... You want stay at Beacon? Why?"

Penny hesitated before answering, unsure how Cinder would understand. "You're my friend, right?" she inquired. "You promise you're my friend?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I promise."

Penny looked around to make sure no other Atlesians were close. Then she answered her friend. "I do not believe Atlas is where I belong. I have been given many rules, orders, and instructions to follow. The only way I can express myself is by going to another Kingdom, by competing in this tournament. I feel, as people may describe, at home here."

"..."

Cinder could see how trapped Penny felt, and how trapped she actually was. She had been burdened with a responsibility she never asked for, just like Cinder had been burdened with being a Maiden. Cinder had grown to accept this responsibility, but Penny was relatively a newborn. She had an understanding of what was expected of her, but her heart wasn't in place.

So Cinder decided to fix that.

"You were really brave for telling me all of that," said Cinder. She then began to look around her surroundings, repeating Penny's original actions. "I actually want to share a secret too. But you're my friend too, right?"

"Of course," Penny said. "It would seem unfair if I did nothing for you, given what you have just done."

Cinder nodded and raised her hand to her neck. She still wasn't wearing her Mandalorian necklace, so all she did was lower her collar. In turn, this revealed a thick line around her neck that Cinder was ashamed to see. "You see this line here? What do you think caused it?"

Penny looked closer at Cinder's neck. Her pupils began to move clockwise, as if they were zooming in like camera lenses. After a few more seconds of observation, Penny moved away. "It appears to be a response to a repeated action," she said. "A repeated trauma, given the color. A likely diagnosis would be a rope, or perhaps-"

"An electric shock," Cinder finished. "We're more alike than you think, Penny."

"We are? How do you mean?"

Cinder took a deep breath as she shared her story. "When I was a little girl, I was... for lack of a better word, a slave. You know what that is, right?"

Penny moved back and looked straight ahead. "Slave; a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them." Once she finished her definition, Penny's eyes widened. "You were-"

"Just like that." Cinder began to count on her fingers. "I had to fold the laundry, clean the dishes, and wash every room inside a quadruple-floor building. If I refused or made a small mistake... Zap!" Cinder pointed to her throat for emphasis. "It was years before I met the man who adopted me, who took me here. I was... I am free. But that doesn't mean my life is carefree. I still have... a tremendous responsibility. But I have people who care about me, who want to share my burdens with me." Cinder gently took Penny's hands and smiled. "You have people around you too, Penny. People who can help you through anything."

Penny looked down at her hands, thinking about the people she was surrounded by. Her father was always looking out for her well-being, making sure she wouldn't be in extreme danger and that she was given the love she needed. General Ironwood and Winter were there as well, always guiding her in the direction they felt was right for her. Despite the fact she felt trapped at times, Penny was able to take comfort in knowing she would never be alone in her darkest hour.

But there was one person Penny wanted to have in her life, one who could provide her with the wisdom she needed to go through her uncertain times.

"Are you... one of those people?" Penny asked. "I do not know what would have happened if I did not hear that. And there may be a time when I need to hear something similar."

Cinder barely tightened her embrace. "Of course," she promised. "If you're ever confused or scared, I'll be a CCT-call away. But you can't run away from what you're afraid of. You have to promise me, okay?"

"Okay!" Penny quickly and tightly hugged Cinder. "Thank you, Cinder! You're the best friend anyone could ever have!"

The metal embrace caused Cinder to activate her Aura, to block out the unintentional pain Penny was causing her. Before she could ask her friend to release her, Cinder heard the sound of her name, as well as Penny's.

"Penny! Cinder!"

The pair left the trees to see Winter walking around the fairgrounds. She had just taken her Scroll out of her pocket, preparing to call either Cinder or Penny. But she looked away from it when Cinder cleared her throat. "There you are," she said as she put the device away. "We've been picked to fight, Penny. Our teammates are waiting for us."

"Then there is no time to waste!" Penny said as she made her way to the nearest airship, with Cinder and Winter following behind her.

"Trouble while you were gone?" Winter asked, slightly concerned about Penny's emotional state.

"Not really," Cinder explained. "She just had a moment of doubt."

"Ah, I see." Winter looked back to Penny. "It seems you got her in the right mood."

"I just told her it's good to run towards your problems, not away from them."

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

The sound of her Scroll caused Cinder to take it out of her pocket once again. She looked at the screen to see that it was another call from the Mandalorian. And once again, she declined the call.

"Practice what you preach, Cinder."

The dark haired girl quickly looked over to Winter, who was staring her in the eyes. "You've never ignored a call from your father," she said. "Even in the company of your friends."

Cinder sighed in response to her friend's astute observation. "I'm not running away from it," she explained. "I'm just... still trying to figure it out."

"Figure what out?"

"Oh, no. It's nothing you need to get worried about." Cinder held her head up high. "Besides, I can't let you think about it before your match."

"I don't think this will trouble the Ice Queen." Winter explained what she meant when she remembered that Cinder wasn't one of her fellow cadets. "It's a nickname some of the cadets gave me, saying that's how all Schnees are."

"What? That is so cruel," Cinder replied.

"It is, but the military isn't for the faint of heart," Winter said. "Besides, with all the nicknames that are given to our commanders and superior officers, General Ironwood told me there could be a chance I could give the name a different meaning. A better one." The young Atlesian quickly got back on topic. "So go ahead. I won't let it concern me too much."

Cinder sighed as she decided to let another one of her friends in. "Okay. When I finally met my mom, she told me some things."

"What things?"

"Mainly why I was put in an orphanage. It all started when my father died."

"Your birth-father." Winter was putting the pieces together to make a theory about her friend's situation. "You're trying to see how Mr. Djarin would fit in all this."

"Not exactly. Well... he might be involved with this, I don't know."

"How?"

"My birth-father was killed... by Mandalorians."

Winter paused in her movement. "What?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I know," Cinder replied. "After he died, I was sent to live at an orphanage while my mother readjusted. But a fire burned down the orphanage, I was sent somewhere else, and, well... you know the rest."

Winter immediately felt sorry for her friend, and she decided to help her the only way she knew how; with rational thinking. "What kind of Mandalorians?" she asked. "You told me there were all kinds of clans."

"The helmet wasn't a common color. It was pure chrome, no paint or sign from a clan. The only Mandalorians like that I can think of are Death Watch and... the Watch."

"You mean your father's people?"

Cinder nodded. "They don't really adhere to a certain color choice. They're all over the place with their paint job. And Death Watch usually has a mixture of blue and chrome, from what Dad told me." Cinder sighed again. "Both clans moved around a lot, and I vaguely remember hearing the Watch used to live somewhere in Mistral. Even still, there's just so much I can't figure out right now. And if Dad finds out, who knows how he'll react?!" Cinder rubbed her head and began to calm down. "Even if it wasn't the Watch, what difference does it make? I'm a Mandalorian, I joined the people who killed my father. What does that... What does that make me?"

The more Cinder talked, the more Winter understood her dilemma. She knew how badly Cinder had wanted to meet her parents, how badly she wanted to know the truth about herself. But neither of them could have expected something like this. And Cinder never expected that becoming a Mandalorian may drive her mother away, and may drive Din Djarin away as well.

Despite this truth, Winter knew that Cinder could never be like the monsters her mother, or anyone else for that matter, had described the Mandalorians as being. She also knew that Cinder needed to know this as well.

"Let me answer your question with a question," Winter suggested as she resumed to walk towards the airship docks. "How does that make you different?"

Cinder shot a puzzled look at Winter before catching up to her. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Whoever those Mandalorians were, the ones that killed your father... they're not the Mandalorian I call my friend. If someone chooses to see the helmet you wear instead of the person beneath it, they're no different from the cadets who talk behind my back."

Cinder knew what Winter meant. While it made her feel a little better, she didn't show it. "I appreciate that, Winter," she said. "I really do. But part of my problem is my parents. What if they expect me to choose between them? What if they start fighting if they meet, and I'm caught in the middle? What do I do then?"

"If that happens, I trust you'll make the right choice. Take it from someone whose father had no regard for his children; your true family reveals itself in time."

"Well... I know what you're saying, but I... I-"

"Cinder!"

The mentioned girl turned around when a familiar voice from behind called out her name. There she saw her teammates walking towards her.

"There you are," said Merri. "We were starting to think you were running out on us."

"Yeah, where are you headed?" Fauna asked.

"Oh, I was just going back to the Colosseum," Cinder replied calmly. "Winter and Penny are up."

"Oh, cool!" Flora exclaimed. "Let's see how it goes!"

---

When Winter and Penny finally arrived at Amity Colosseum, they had about five minutes to spare. While they were waiting, the girls decided to meet up with their teammates, who were waiting outside the combatants entrance.

There was the team leader, Rachel Rampion. She was seventeen like the majority of Atlas students, who had a head of long golden hair. Little did her opponents know that her Semblance gave her hair a life of its own, one that would commence any attack Rachel thought of. And she was planning on using it against the opponents she would be fighting. The other member was Ikaros Rampion, Rachel's brother. Given his overconfidence and untamed ambitions, Rachel made sure to keep a close eye on him. Under her direction, Ikaros was able to use his Semblance, the ability to sprout a pair of wings, wisely in battle.

Together, all of the teenagers made Team RIPW. Winter wasn't very fond of the name, given that rainbows weren't usually seen in Atlas and there was no "B" in any of their names. At the same time, she could see how it could make people, mainly children, happy. Penny, on the other hand, found the name to be positive and embraced it, along with the rest of her team.

"Hey, there they are!" Rachel said to her brother as she laid eyes upon Winter and Penny. "We were starting to think you weren't coming."

"We are sorry to have kept you worried!" Penny apologized. "We were congratulating the leader of Team CMFF for their success!"

"CMFF?" Ikaros asked. "Oh, wait. That's your friend's team, right?"

"It is," Winter confirmed. "I still have yet to properly introduce the two of you to her."

"Hell yeah, you do! I'm gonna swipe that girl off her feet."

Winter sighed. "Now I remember why I still need to introduce you to her."

"Come on, Winter!" Ikaros fixed his hair and made a toothy grin. "There's no way she can resist this! What does she have that I don't?"

"A boyfriend," Winter replied.

"An attitude that's not as cocky as yours, I imagine," Rachel said to her brother.

"Dark hair!" Penny pointed out, causing confusion between the siblings.

"Oh, yeah?" Ikaros asked, ignoring Penny's strange answer. "Well... I bet she doesn't have these bad boys!" He immediately sprouted his wings using his Semblance, nearly hitting his sister in the process.

"Careful, bro," Rachel warned. "We both need full Auras for this fight." She then looked over to her teammates. "You girls ready to kick some butt?"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny yelled in excitement. Winter simply nodded as she mentally prepared herself for the battle. Just then, they were directed to approach the arena while Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck were introducing the new combatants.

Winter learned that she would be fighting a team from Shade Academy, Team AMBR. All of the members were boys and were led by Adam Nieve, a young man with white hair who could crush Dust crystals and blow its elements to make a strong storm. He was followed by Marcus Helios, Bruce Glace, and Russel Gelu. All four members were known to have Semblances involved with the cold, a clear irony to the harsh environment of Vacuo. And now they were ready to prove that victory was a dish best served cold.

The screens all around the arena began to show spinning images. Half of them, the ones behind Team RIPW, landed on a yellow image of dunes and stone. Just then, the image took a life of its own when it appeared out of the ground behind them.

"Alright!" Marcus cried out. "Home field advantage!"

"Hold up, man," Adam warned. "They have our land. Let's see what we got, and then see if we can take their sand for ourselves." Just as he said that, the images behind Team AMBR landed on a blue symbol of waves. The sea, along with more sand and a pirate ship, appeared behind them. Adam immediately looked to Marcus. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Ice rink in the water?" his teammate asked with a nod.

"See if you and Russel can lure some of them over here first. Then we'll freeze it."

"Gotcha."

Professor Port began the countdown when he saw the new challengers take their stances. "Three... two... one... BEGIN!" he demanded.

Winter quickly made a Glyph into the ground while Marcus tapped Russel's shoulder and took off running. Russel followed his teammate's lead and ran behind him with a pair of katana blades. Just then, he was met by a fast-traveling Winter, who used her Glyphs to move as fast as lightning. The two engaged in a duel while Marcus made contact with Rachel.

"Ikaros, get on top of the ship!" the team leader ordered. Her brother quickly sprouted his wings and flew to the mast of the ship. He then took out two mismatching pieces of metal in his arms. Working fast, he combined the metal to create a sniper rifle and shoot at the enemies below.

"Looks like the ice will have to wait," Adam thought as he took out a crystal of Wind Dust. Quickly biting down on it, the young man used his Semblance and began to blow into the air. A large windstorm was created and Ikaros quickly folded his wings and grabbed the mast. Adam then blew onto the ground to fly up to the mast and meet his new target.

Penny finally stopped standing around when Bruce began to walk up to her and crack his knuckles. As he did, his hands turned white and sprouted crystals of ice. Every punch he threw would leave a freezing burn on his enemies, and he knew Penny was about to feel this pain. However, Penny stood her ground and watched her target run closer to her. Suddenly, a piece of metal on her back opened, causing a metal sword to spring out and hover above her head. The sword moved quickly to land in between his legs, leaving a briefly shocked Bruce to stop in his tracks.

"Holy crap!" he yelled as he looked up. "Are you trying to cut off my-?!"

Two more swords quickly hovered above Penny's head and flew to Bruce's sides. Penny then jumped in the air and sprang forward as thin strings on the swords began to retract. She was then able to land a kick to Bruce's head before flipping backwards and taking her swords with her.

Rachel was using mixed martial arts to fight Marcus, who was holding his own with his own fighting style. However, Rachel quickly used her Semblance to give her hair life. It then wrapped itself around Marcus' leg when he sent a kick that Rachel dodged. He found himself being thrown on the metal ground, losing more and more of his Aura. He only stopped moving when he was thrown on the sand dune along with Russel. Rachel and Winter began to move closer to their opponents.

"He's not so tough," Rachel said with a smirk.

"Stay focused," Winter ordered as she created one more Glyph on the ground. Small white Nevermores began to fly towards the boys, who quickly ran behind the sand dune.

"This isn't working out!" Russel said.

"We need to get them to the water!" Marcus declared. "If we can freeze them, we'll finish them off! I'll try to make some snow outta this sand, see if you can freeze the ground behind them first!"

Russel nodded and moved above the sand dune. He then focused his energy into his katana before he made a swipe in the air. The blue energy quickly moved behind the two girls, causing the metal behind them to be covered in ice. As they turned back to the sand dune, it exploded into white snow, causing the two girls to fly back and skid on the ice. They flew closer and closer to the water, where Adam finally succeeded in knocking Ikaros out of the air and into the water. Marcus and Russel quickly threw their opponents into the water and stood back.

Winter looked up and saw Russel prepare to freeze the water with his sword and Adam bite onto an Ice Dust crystal. "Ikaros, get us out of here!" she cried.

"I can't, my wings got damp when I fell!" Ikaros said. Just then, the water froze at their legs, leaving them trapped in the frozen water.

"Winter, try to cut us out of here!" Rachel ordered as her golden hair began to move on its own. "I'll keep the boys back." Her hair moved towards the members of Team AMBR, causing them to back away.

"Keep your distance," Adam ordered. "You two used a lotta Aura to get them here."

"Let's crash that ship on them," Marcus suggested. "Maybe all four of us can-"

"And Bruce Glace is the first to be eliminated!" Oobleck shouted into his microphone.

The boys weren't paying attention to the two teachers of Beacon while they were fighting, and this was the first thing they heard. Adam's confusion caused him to turn around and ask a question. "Wait. Where's the other girl?"

Everyone turned to see Penny standing over an unconscious Bruce. She then created more swords above her head. Quickly moving her arms, Penny caused all of her present swords to fly towards the boys. However, they all barely missed and landed straight into the ice. The young girl then moved back and commanded the strings to pull, causing the ice to break into chunks. After a few seconds, the ice broke and freed the rest of Team RIPW. The swords continued to stay in the large blocks of ice, and made their way towards the remaining members of Team AMBR.

"Oh, son of a-"

*BAM*

The chunks of hard ice slammed into the boys and caused them to fly out of the arena and crash into the Hard-Light shield protecting the audience. "Team RIPW wins by knockout!" Port said into his microphone. "Quite literally! Can... someone go make sure they're okay?"

Team RIPW united together and smiled at their victory while waving at the audience. The Blair sisters clapped at the sight while Cinder jumped out of her chair and slapped her hands together as loudly as she could.

---

When she left the arena, Winter couldn't help but feel that she had bruised her ego in the fight. She remembered seeing multiple errors on both ends of Cinder's fight, but the feeling was different when she was the one who was fighting. And now, she knew that her family, General Ironwood, and Admiral Thrawn were watching her. In her mind, Winter had no doubt that everyone she thought of was going to view her differently after that fight.

Penny was the first one who noticed that her stress was high, but Winter did her best to play it off. Instead, she decided to finally introduce her teammates to Cinder, who immediately took a liking to Rachel. Ikaros, however, was someone she left for the Blair sisters to fight over. Together, all eight teenagers either played games at the fairgrounds or watched more and more team matches. By the time the sun was setting, the team matches had ended and the tournament would begin tomorrow.

Ikaros insisted that their celebration wasn't over when the sun had set. Cinder, Winter, Penny, and Rachel disagreed, saying that they needed to rest for tomorrow. However, the Blair sisters agreed with the young man and decided to take him out on the town. Rachel decided not to go and told Ikaros to be back soon. Winter and Penny joined her, leaving Cinder alone to go back to her dorm room.

But when she saw a man in Mandalorian armor sitting in her room, Cinder knew she wouldn't be getting rest as soon as she thought.

"Dad!" Cinder yelled, surprised to see him where she least expected him to be. "What, uh... What are you doing here?"

"I knew you'd be here eventually," Djarin said as he stood up. "I knew that this would be the only time to talk, given you've been ignoring my calls."

"What, I can't be hanging out with my friends?"

"I never said that. But now I'm saying you can't ignore all of my calls."

"...Okay, sure." Cinder walked into the room and closed the door. "Sorry, that was a dumb thing to do." She began to walk to her bed and prepared to lie down.

"Hold on," the Mandalorian said as he held her arm. As soon as she looked at him, he let her go. "We're not done talking yet."

"What else do we need to talk about?"

"Why you've been avoiding me ever since you met your mother."

Cinder's eyes widened as soon as her secret had been exposed. "You know about that?" she asked.

"I know now."

Cinder lost focus when she realized what had just happened, how she gave herself away. Rather than being angry with herself, she was angry that Djarin had pulled something like that on her. "That was a dirty trick," she said as she sat down. "Even for you."

"I know," Djarin admitted, regretting the need he felt to do so. "But one day you wanted to talk nonstop about her, and the next you don't even talk to me? Something's going on, isn't there?"

Cinder felt like an ant in the presence of the Mandalorian, intimidated by the fact that she had become an open book simply by not seeing him for what felt like ages. And there was no use in denying the fact that there was something wrong. But was Cinder ready to let it out? Was she ready to tell the truth as she did before? Was she ready to tell it to the only person that it mattered to?

"...No."

Djarin lost his initial confidence when she answered. "No?" he asked.

"No," Cinder repeated. "It's nothing."

Djarin knew that Cinder was lying, which was why he pressed on. "I don't believe that."

"I don't care." Cinder stood up from the bed. "Why should I care, when you barge in here and play some mind game just to get what you want? Like seriously, what the hell?!"

"..."

Now it was Djarin's turn to be intimidated by his present company. "I... see you're upset," he said. "Maybe I got carried away."

"You think?!" Cinder wasn't in the mood to yell anymore, let alone talk. "Look, now's not really the best time, okay? Can you just... respect that?"

"..."

Djarin immediately disappeared via his Semblance, causing Cinder to sigh in relief. "Thank you," she said, even though nobody was around.

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

Realizing that she may have spoken too soon, Cinder quickly opened the door and began to talk. "Dad, I'm really not-Rachel?"

On the other side of the door stood Rachel Rampion, who looked confused. "Sorry," she said. "I'm, uh, not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, no!" Cinder insisted. "I just... thought you were someone else." She cleared her throat and talked to her acquaintance properly. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you've seen Ikaros. A few Beacon students told me where to find your dorm, and I figured he would still be here with your teammates." Rachel glanced through the pieces of the room she could see behind Cinder. "Then again, it looks like I was wrong." Her eyes suddenly landed on something behind Cinder. "Holy crap! Is that what I think it is?"

Cinder looked behind her to see that her Beskar armor was standing behind the doorframe. "Oh, yeah," she replied. "That's a set of Mando armor, alright." She then stepped out of the way. "Wanna see it?"

"If you don't mind."

Cinder gestured for Rachel to come inside, where she began to look and gently touch the metal. "I've seen something like this in a museum, but I never imagined seeing it up close," she said. "How did you get it?"

"That's... a long story," Cinder answered. She then remembered why Rachel was here. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen your brother. Or my team, for that matter. Guess they like to party, huh?"

"That's Ikaros, alright." Rachel sighed. "That idiot always gets into some kind of trouble. At least he didn't drag me into it this time." The blonde teenager quickly realized who she talking to. "Crap, sorry. I didn't mean to bore you."

"No, it's okay," Cinder insisted. "I know how it is. Family driving you crazy."

"Oh, yeah? You got a brother?"

"No, my problems are more with my parents. I live with my dad, but let's just say I just found out something crazy with my mom."

"Ohhh. My parents are divorced, too."

Cinder didn't see the need to correct Rachel, given the circumstances with her parents. "Aw, I'm sorry. That's terrible."

"It was hard, living while it was happening," Rachel explained. "When they separated, the worst part was us deciding who we would live with. God, how can people expect you to make a choice like that?"

Cinder felt an immediate connection despite the differences. She didn't want to make someone she barely knew feel sad, but there was one thing she wanted to know. "So, what happened?"

"I settled with my dad. Ikaros didn't want to be alone, so he came with me. Things were fine at first, but then she learned we wanted to go to Atlas Academy. She didn't like the idea of her kids being Grimm-chow. Her words, not mine."

"My mom's kinda like that too."

"Oh, yeah? Doesn't want you to be a Huntress, or something like that?"

"Something like that, yeah." Cinder rubbed her hand on the Beskar steel. "My dad thinks I'm doing great, but I know my mom thinks different. It makes me wonder if I made the right choices, you know?"

"Really?" Rachel asked. "But you did great in the first match! And you're Winter's age, and the leader of your own team! Why would that be a bad choice?"

"Given how it's dealing with two people who really matter to me," Cinder explained. Even though she barely knew her mother and that she never told her that she was a Mandalorian, finally meeting her meant the world to the child.

"Cinder... I know we just met, but believe me; I get it," said Rachel. "My parents couldn't agree with each other about a life of hunting Grimm, and I got caught in the middle. But I just became... I just became numb to it, you know? The bad feelings, the constant disagreements, I just don't care anymore. I love my parents, but I don't care if one agrees with me while another doesn't."

"Makes sense," Cinder agreed. "But I just don't think my mom likes... the system. Of being a, uh, Huntress."

"Maybe you can change that. You ever hear the phrase 'change something from the inside?'" Rachel looked out the window to Beacon. "A lotta people say Atlas Academy has some problems. So when I graduate, maybe I can stay behind, change a few things to make the system better." She looked back to Cinder. "I'm not sure what problems, if any, Beacon has. But maybe you can show your mom it's not as bad as she thinks. Right?"

"..."

Before Cinder could say anything, the door opened to reveal the Blair sisters. "Hey, Cindy!" Fauna said. "Man, you missed out, girl!"

"Hey, Rachel," Merri addressed the second girl. "What's going on?"

"Just looking for my brother," she replied. "I thought he'd be with you."

"He was. He wanted to stay at the club a little longer, but we couldn't keep up."

"Ugh. Guess who has to go get him?" Rachel walked out the door, but then turned back. "Hey, Cinder. It's too bad you can't wear that armor next time you fight. Bet you'd kick some butt with it."

---

The next day started just like the last one. More fights in the tournament had commenced, but they were in the doubles round this time. Cinder spent more time watching the fights, but decided to enjoy them from a TV in her room. All of the advice and wisdom she had received yesterday still lingered in her head, and she was beginning to make her decision as to how she would handle the unexpected predicament she found herself in. In doing so, she became numb to her surroundings. Her teammates decided to only disturb her when it was their turn to fight. Until then, she would just watch the battles and ignore everything else.

The only time she decided to engage with the world was when she sent a message to her father, promising to talk after her match. He received it and responded in less than ten seconds, but still felt upset about everything.

"Leave it be, Djarin," said Glynda, who was sitting at a computer. "We still have work to do."

The Mandalorian silently moved to Glynda's computer and looked at the screen. "What is this, again?" he asked.

"These are all the files of every student participating in the tournament," the professor explained. "Qualifications, Semblances, medical records, they're all right here. And currently, it's our job to see who should be fighting who in both the double and single rounds."

"I thought the fights were chosen at random."

"That's the public story. For the safety of both the students and spectators, we make sure each combatant is given a fair, yet challenging, opponent. Not exactly cheating, just taking necessary precautions."

Djarin continued to stare at the screen, but found himself more confused than before. "I don't follow," he said.

"Maybe an example should help," Glynda said as she looked at two files. "Clementine Wayne has the ability to see in the dark. Her Aura has strengthened since being accepted at Shade, but a recent knee surgery absorbs a lot of Aura at said knee." Glynda opened the next file. "And Charlotte Brown's tendency to attack at the legs with her war hammer would cost Ms. Wayne another trip to the hospital. Wouldn't you agree?"

"...I suppose."

Glynda sighed as her partner's obvious distracted behavior. As she questioned why Ozpin thought it would be a good idea for them to work on something this serious, she decided to clear the air. "Djarin, Cinder's a teenager. Of course she'll ignore her father and be out with her friends. I went through that phase as well."

"I'm just worried," the Mandalorian confessed.

"So am I. I was hesitant to let our Fall Maiden be put in a scenario where using her powers may feel natural, but Ozpin believed it would remind her of her lessons in discipline. And given her fight, he was right." Glynda took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "If it's bothering you that much, take my advice; be firm, but fair."

Djarin nodded. "I did that, but I think it was the wrong time. Guess I have to wait."

"Good!" Glynda turned back to the computer, content with her work. "You see, Djarin? I've seen you be a responsible parent multiple times before, why should this be any different?"

"Because there's something else going on."

Glynda continued to look at the computer, but decided to multitask and talk to her partner. "How is it that you're able to think outside the box when you're either fighting or overthinking?" she asked.

"This time, I have a reason to overthink," Djarin claimed. "Cinder recently told me that she found her birth mother."

Glynda had unexpectedly found another reason to look away from her computer. "After all this time? That's wonderful news!"

"I know. She was happy the last time I talked to her about it. Really happy."

Glynda began to have an idea as to what made Djarin upset. "You're being ridiculous," she bluntly claimed. "How can you think that she'll leave the man who raised her behind when she found someone who was never there? You two have been through so much!"

"I believed that wouldn't happen. Cinder said it herself. But not long after mentioning this, she ignores my calls and I only get to see her during training. Never any time personally. And she wouldn't even talk to me when I told her not to ignore calls from me."

"Well... that could just be a-"

"Coincidence? I think not."

Glynda knew that the Mandalorian was being irrational, but that didn't mean she couldn't see the point he was making. And it was also interrupting her from working.

"Djarin, I really think you're overthinking this," she said. "And maybe working is a bad idea. Why don't you try and clear your head? Maybe head to the fairgrounds or Amity? The last team match will be starting soon."

"I'm fine," Djarin insisted.

Glynda was going to insist that the Mandalorian leave and let her work, but then she had an idea. "How about I give you a reason to go to Amity?" Glynda pulled four files from the list of students and placed them in what was supposed to be the randomization process. In those places were Cinder, Flora, Winter, and Penny. "This looks like an interesting fight, doesn't it?"

"..."

Djarin saw this as an opportunity to maybe see Cinder closer and see how she reacted. It would put his worries to rest yet again, and it was clear that Glynda wanted him out of her hair.

So he silently teleported out of the room.

Glynda let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the Gods," she said as she rubbed her eyes. "Maybe I can finally get some work done." She began to turn to the computer screen. "That's one fight down, and-"

RECORD MATCH IN BEACON SYSTEM. INVESTIGATE?

YES

NO

Glynda looked at the screen and began to see what was going on. The computer was showing a precautionary message about medical records, indicating that there was a match between two or more people. It was there in case there were any details that were missed or overlooked. In fact, Glynda remembered when she was able to use a record match to suggest a blood transfusion after a horrible accident one year. And Glynda believed the computer had just detected the triplet state of Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather. So she clicked the "YES" button to confirm her case.

She then saw not one, but two pictures begin to flash; Flora and Cinder.

"Huh?" Glynda asked as she looked at the screen. When she clicked on Flora's image, she saw that the records she gave to Beacon indeed matched with her sisters. When she looked at Cinder, her instincts told her that a glitch must have occurred in the system. So she decided to test the theory and see what would happen.

"Wait... what?"

---

Evening had fallen onto Amity Colosseum, and the final doubles round was about to commence. Just as Glynda had made it, Winter and Penny were going to fight Cinder and Flora. And while they were waiting to be called out, the combatants were talking amongst themselves. Cinder momentarily went to the restroom and left her teammate to her own devices.

"You two may be from Atlas, you may be younger, you may have bigger weapons, but believe you me; I can fight!" Flora confidently declared, who seemed to be ready for anything.

"We will be prepared for anything you have!" Penny retorted.

"I hope you'll be doing the same," Winter said. The young Schnee was waiting all day for a moment to redeem herself for yesterday's battle. She was more than determined to make sure she wouldn't come close to losing another fight, and she would be damned before she lost. When cheering outside made Winter lose her focus, she turned to the direction of the excited crowd. "It's too bad Rachel's still looking for Ikaros. Looks like we drew quite the audience."

"We did."

A new voice from behind caused the girls to turn around and see Cinder. But there was a difference to her; rather than wearing her usual and carefree attire, she was wearing her Beskar armor with a proud smile. "And I think they're in for quite the show," she said.

Flora dropped her jaw in shock at the sight. However, she was able to recover from the feeling and complimented her leader. "Oooh, back in black!" she said. "And, y'know, the other colors."

"Oh, my!" Penny said as she looked at the armor. "Rachel told us you acquired a Mandalorian suit, but I did not expect to see it here!"

"Neither did I," Winter agreed as she walked over to Cinder. "It's quite the look, but don't you need to register whatever you're wearing and carrying in the tournament?"

"Yeah, it's a rule," Cinder said as she took out her Scroll, which had the rules of the tournament on it. "But students are allowed to wear anything that relates to religion, even if it's not registered."

"So?"

"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons and armor are a part of my religion."

Winter looked at her friend's Scroll and saw the clever loophole Cinder had exploited. A slight hint of annoyance came from this discovery, as Winter couldn't help but ponder the idea that this could be considered cheating. However, she quickly moved away from her ego and kept her feelings hidden. "You always were a smart girl, Cinder," she said as she returned the Scroll. "I guess we'll have to see how good you are with that armor."

"Don't worry, you will."

The sound of their names being called caused the girls to walk out to the arena. Flora quickly walked up to Cinder and talked to her again. "So, what's with the change of mind?" she asked. "Uh, it looks good, don't get me wrong. But... weren't you worried about-?"

"Not anymore," Cinder declared. "I got a few ideas how to make it work. Don't worry."

"..."

"And here they are!" Doctor Oobleck said through his microphone. "The representatives of Teams CMFF and RIPW have come for the final doubles round!" From the booth he was sitting in, Oobleck leaned closer at the arena. "And what's this?"

"Ah, it seems one of my favorite students is in touch with her ancestral roots!" said Professor Port. "Yes, young Cinder is the daughter of Beacon's own Professor Din Djarin, a firm Mandalorian follower. While this has generated debate over time, Professor Djarin has yet to disappoint anyone with his teaching and dedication to Beacon itself." Professor Port examined the crowd and saw something that caught his eye. "Ah, and there he is now!"

When Cinder looked up on the screen, she could see her father sitting in the crowd. And the only thing he was doing was waving at his daughter, expressing his support and wishing for good luck. So Cinder decided to make lemonade out of the lemons that life had just given her by quickly looking towards her father's direction and blowing him a kiss. "Well now, that has got to be the sweetest gesture I've seen in this arena!" Port said into his microphone.

Rather than observe the display, Winter took hold of her sword and prepared to fight. Penny noticed this and simply moved next to Winter while holding her hands behind her back. Cinder and Flora decided that it was time to prepare themselves as well.

"Time to fight the good fight," Flora said as she took out her sickle. "You ready?"

"Born ready," Cinder replied as she placed her helmet on. She couldn't make it out, but she could swear that she could hear someone booing behind her. When she looked, she saw a group of fans from Atlas behind her. The booing suddenly became understandable, so Cinder decided to focus on the spinning images behind her. They stopped and showed multiple pictures of land surroundings. One was a forest, another was a pack of geysers, another was sheer debris, and the last was a thick field of tall grass. Just then, all four surroundings appeared onto the arena. And Professor Port began the countdown of the final doubles round.

"Three... two... one... BEGIN!"

Winter decided to begin the fight differently than before. She stuck her sword into the ground, but decided to summon small Nevermores and direct them towards her opponents. Flora was about to run, but Cinder stood in front of her teammate and raised her arm. Her flamethrower activated and the fire burned each and every one of Winter's Grimm.

"Ah, an interesting trick up her sleeve!" Port said in his microphone.

Winter quickly lifted her sword and ran towards Cinder. Penny had her eyes on Flora, who had disappeared into the tall grass. However, Penny's artificial eyes were able to detect a human shape in one particular region. So she lifted her hands and caused two swords to hover above the tall grass and reap the field. When Flora noticed that she had been detected, she quickly ran deeper into the field.

Winter was striking her blade on a Hard-Light shield Cinder had created as well as one of her own Beskar blades. When it landed on the shield once more, Winter released her smaller blade and sent it across Cinder's side. Part of her armor protected Cinder from the blow, but an exposed piece of her body left her without a fraction of her Aura.

"It appears Ms. Schnee has some tricks of her own!" Oobleck reported. Cinder said nothing, but simply turned off the shield and took out her second sword.

Penny continued to cut the grass, but was unaware that Flora had managed to study the blades' pattern. She used this analysis to quickly grab one sword and pull on it, causing Penny to stumble close to the field. When she stumbled, Penny managed to make her other sword come close to her and stick to the ground, which allowed the young girl to regain her footing. She then used the thin string on her other sword to pull Flora out of the grass and towards her. But, Flora had found out how Penny's swords were connected to her body, so she cut off the wire with her sickle. She then used her momentum to roll closer to Penny and attack with both the sword and her sickle.

"Oh-ho!" Port laughed in excitement. "What will she do now without her weapon?"

To answer the question, Penny flipped backwards while making more swords. When she stopped moving, Penny spread her arms out and pointed her remaining floating swords towards Flora. The swords began to create a form of green energy at the tips, and shot green lasers at Flora. One blast hit Flora in the chest and took a considerable amount of her Aura. "Oh, so they're guns now?!" she shouted as she moved closer to the trees. Penny simply followed while cutting the trees with her swords.

Cinder was continuing her duel with Winter, even though she could end it in an instant. The heat and fire she could feel was a perfect time to use her Maiden powers, and she could take the battle to the air without a jetpack. But since she wasn't in a hurry to reveal her true nature, Cinder blocked each of Winter's attacks and returned with some of her own. Her swordplay with Midnight was impressive, and Cinder began using its combined form as a larger sword rather than a bow. And she had just used that larger sword to knock Winter closer to the geysers.

The Atlesian cadet was able to stop herself from falling into a geyser before she turned back to Cinder. When she realized that her victory wouldn't be won by her skills with a sword, Winter decided to risk more of her Aura by creating another Glyph in the ground. Suddenly, Cinder found herself surrounded by more Glyphs with the Schnee snowflake inside. Before she could react, Cinder felt a quick strike to her body. And then she felt another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

One more strike caused her to come off her feet and move closer to the center of the arena.

"Well now, that was a calculated risk!" Professor Port declared.

"It appears Winter and Cinder are matched not only in skill, but now in Aura levels!" Oobleck noticed when he looked at the scoreboard. "This duel is anyone's game at the moment!"

The world stopped spinning around Cinder when she removed her helmet and started to catch her breath. As she did, she was able to see the look on her friend's face. "Jeez," the young Maiden thought to herself. "She really wants to win." Even though this truth was evident, Cinder wasn't going to back down from a challenge. And even though she wasn't going to resort to using her powers, the elements of heat she could sense from one geyser gave Cinder an idea. She ran towards Winter, who was preparing to send two two icicles from two Glyphs at her. Cinder dodged the icicles and landed in between Winter and the geyser that was about to erupt. Winter decided to lunge at the unarmed Cinder with the tip of her sword aimed at her neck.

But Cinder quickly lunged to the ground and tripped Winter's leading leg, which caused the Atlesian to fall face first into the geyser. And before she could recover, the hot steam erupted and threw Winter back to the center of the arena.

"And Ms. Schnee has been eliminated!" Professor Port shouted into the microphone.

Cinder heard cheering and booing at the same time, but ignored both when she saw that Winter was unconscious. "Eh, she'll be fine," she thought. "Okay, where are Flora and Penny?"

*BOOM*

A dust cloud and an unconscious Flora had escaped the forest, which was caused by an explosion. And the source of that explosion was Penny, who flew to the center of the arena. Cinder noticed that Flora's Aura had fallen into the red, and that she wouldn't be helping her anytime soon.

"Looks like it's you and me, Penny," Cinder declared as she took out her swords.

"It would appear so!" Penny agreed. "I just hope it will be as entertaining as my duel with Flora!"

Cinder chuckled as she spun her blades. "Don't worry. I think we'll be having some fun."

The crowd continued to applaud and cheer, but a young man rose from his seat and yelled down to the combatants. "Shut up and fight!" he screamed.

The two girls complied and began their duel. Cinder saw that Penny had more Aura than her, so she decided to keep her distance and fire Beskar arrows. Penny was able to block the arrows with a fan of blades she created, but one arrow had slipped through the crack and struck Penny in the shoulder. She decided to send her fan towards Cinder, but she was able to dodge the floating array of swords. Penny moved closer and sent a kick to Cinder's gut, which only took a small part of Cinder's Aura.

"That armor seems to holding up well!" Professor Port said. "Though it seems some of the fans are upset at the loophole young Cinder discovered."

"Yes, yes!" Oobleck agreed. "I sense a rule change will be in the works once this is over! But for now, Cinder seems to be using this loophole to her advantage!"

"Both girls have shown everyone such tremendous displays of combat! Both of their defenses have resulted in little Aura loss from the other's attack!"

"It seems that there is no end in sight for this duel!"

After a full minute of attacks and parrying, Cinder and Penny found themselves on opposite ends of the arena's centerpiece. Cinder was breathing heavily and repeatedly clenching her fists. She knew her Aura was close to the red, but she felt strong enough to continue the duel without her Aura. Penny, on the other hand, was feeling her strength leave her. The blades on her back felt heavy as the batteries inside them were beginning to die. She wasn't prepared for such a stressful duel, and she felt that her limit would soon be reached. All she could do was gather her remaining power for one last strike.

After what felt like an eternity, Cinder and Penny lunged at each other one final time, ready to end the fight one way or another. Each member of the audience was leaning towards the screens or the arena itself, dying from anticipation.

And right when the combatants were close to each other, they struck each other with all their strength. And both their Auras shattered at the exact same time.

"I-I-I don't believe it!" Oobleck shouted into his microphone. "Both combatants have simultaneously struck each other's Auras into the red! Ladies and gentlemen... it appears we have a tie!"

Cinder and Penny looked at each other in sheer confusion at the turn of events, and the crowd had also become silent. Everyone was confused as to what a tie meant, but they knew one thing; the fight was over.

"It seems we'll have to review the footage!" Professor Port suggested. "This may take time, so I think now is the best time to call this match to an end."

The crowd cheered and clapped again while Cinder panted on the ground, impressed by Penny's remarkable speed and control of her swords. She had the chance to say this when Penny offered a hand to come off the ground. "That was amazing!" she said as she slapped Penny's shoulder. "You're gonna do great in Mantle, Penny."

Penny smiled and hugged Cinder. "Thank you for a wonderful time!" she said. Cinder happily returned the hug.

"Ah, it does my heart good to see such sportsmanship!" said Professor Port. "And to see two people with little Aura hold their own for that long!"

Cinder let go of Penny to look at the applauding crowd, and her eyes inevitably landed on her father. Instead of sitting, he was standing and clapping, also proud to see her last that long with little Aura. He had no doubt in his mind that she would have won the fight if the rules of Aura didn't apply.

Cinder was thinking the same thing, and wished the fight could have lasted longer. But all she felt like doing was waving and making her way off the platform. Even though she wished she could continue fighting, she knew no other attack would be allowed.

*SWISH*

"Aaahhh!"

Cinder fell to the metal floor with a scream as she felt a clean slice to the unprotected part of her back. Without her Aura to protect her or heal the pain, all she could do was feel the pain on her back.

The cheers and applause had suddenly turned to gasps and screams at the event.

"My word!" Oobleck said as he flew off his seat.

Port turned around to the technicians behind him. "Cut the cameras!" he ordered.

The Mandalorian immediately reacted to the event by using his Semblance to teleport himself to the arena and run to Cinder. "Cinder!" he shouted as he kneeled down to her. "Are you okay?!"

Cinder did her best to move without causing more pain, and managed to get on her knees and look to Djarin. "What... What just happened?" she asked.

"Aaahh!"

Another scream filled the air and caused both Mandalorians to turn around. When Cinder saw the scene before her, she couldn't believe her eyes. She was trying to do everything she could to try and convince herself that it was a lie, that she was dreaming, or that this was some kind of cruel joke.

Winter, her best friend, had just stabbed Flora, a defenseless girl, in her stomach. And she showed no sign of stopping her attack.

Seeing that Flora needed more help than Cinder, Djarin acted quickly and tackled Winter to the ground before she could hurt anyone else.

"What are you doing?!" Winter yelled as she tried to push the Mandalorian off her. "Stop it!"

Djarin quickly pulled out his sidearm and pointed it at the Schnee's face. "Stay down!" he mercilessly ordered.

"..."

Winter's fear finally kicked in when she saw the gun in her face. She silently began to move her hands to show that she was surrendering, but Djarin wasn't done with her just yet.

"What do you do?" he asked.

For some reason, Winter couldn't understand what the Mandalorian was talking about. "I don't-"

"What did you do?!"

"Flora!"

Winter and Djarin looked to see Cinder, who was finally able to stand, run over to her teammate and silently stare at the sword in her side. Penny was also too shocked to say anything. She instead covered her mouth with her hands and watched as Cinder tried to help and Flora screamed.

"Why did she do that?!" Flora screamed.

The arena soon filled with multiple Atlesian Knights and soldiers, with Merri and Fauna following.

"Oh, my God!" Merri screamed as she kneeled down to her sister.

"Somebody help us!" Fauna screamed to the group of soldiers, but they were too busy helping the Mandalorian with Winter. She found herself looking at the screens above her, which depicted her attacking both Cinder and Flora.

"What happened?" Winter asked. "What's going on?"

"Don't play games," Djarin coldly replied as he pushed Winter to a soldier. "Get her out of here." He then ran over to Team CMFF and tried to help. "Don't move her. Paramedics are coming."

"Why did she do that?!" Flora screamed again. "Why did she attack me?!"

---

Author's notes: hey everyone, hope you're doing good! Sorry this update took me a while, I've been busy with a few things. School and work mostly, but I've made sure to leave enough time for two things lately: writing and The Book of Boba Fett. I thought the finale was pretty good, it was entertaining. The season as a whole was okay in my opinion. Not the best thing ever, but not the worst either. Feel free to tell me what you thought of the show in the comments, as well as what you thought of this chapter.

To The Avenging Titan, glad I've been able to keep you surprised with this story. I think the answer to your question was answered in this chapter, but I'm sure you'll still have questions. Feel free to leave another review, thanks for reading!

To NacNak, ooooh yessssss. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading.

To Blueghast900, thank you for the compliment. Glad you liked how unique I made Thrawn, I hope you enjoyed everything else about him. And I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, thanks for reading.

To 54godamora, I'm glad to see you liked Thrawn too. You'll be seeing more of him later. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.

To Dasgun, not sure what you mean, but I hope you're enjoying the story.

To ManiacalHarp747, her father was killed. I can't explain a lot right now, but you'll see it later in the story. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.

To GojiraFan455516, I got both your comments. I'm really happy you liked everything, hope I answered your question. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.

To joeyginise, good to hear from you again. Glad you liked how I made everything, and Cinder's asking the same questions as you (and then some). Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading!

To Ri2, glad you liked Thrawn, and I understand why you don't trust Sandie. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading.

To Guest-Questioner, I think you got the noise down, good job. Hope you liked what you saw, thanks for reading.

To Servos New Head, I'm so glad you're all caught up! And I'm really glad you liked Thrawn in this chapter. I also enjoyed reading your facts about the anole and argyria. Very interesting. I can't say too much about inhibitor chips, but I can tell you that Winter is starting to believe something: good soldiers follow orders. I'm glad you're invested with Cinder's mother, but don't worry; there's more to come. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading!

To CT7567Rules, glad you liked Thrawn here. I'll definitely check out what you told me about the Morph Gun, thanks for the tips! I can't say too much about the possibility of Rex or the Bad Batch right now, but I think you'll like what I have in store at the moment. I'm glad you like my ideas for Cinder, thanks for talking about that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Before I go, I wanted to address one thing. It brings me no pleasure to say this, but I recently learned that Tom Veitch, author of the Legends stories Dark Empire and Tales of the Jedi, recently passed away. I really enjoyed his stories, and he actually introduced really cool ideas into Star Wars Canon (the holocron, a double-bladed lightsaber, he even brought back Boba Fett). Like Timothy Zahn, the author of the Thrawn Trilogy, he was one the early authors of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. I wanted to put this out there so I could pay my respects to a great author.

Along with that, I wanted to thank you all for being so patient. And I'd like to welcome the new favorites and followers The Way of the Maiden gained recently. Hope you all enjoyed a chapter, feel free to let me know what you thought of it. See you next time!