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.

37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37: The Truth

"Is this what your people have been teaching Winter at the Academy?! How she can attack her enemies when they're not even looking?!"

"Mrs. Schnee, please-"

"My daughter joined the Atlas military to be a soldier, General! Not a gods-damn executioner!"

"Willow, please calm down! I've never had any intention of teaching Winter anything like what happened last night!"

"Well, somebody did! I've known Cinder ever since Winter was ten, and neither of them would ever hurt each other like that!"

General Ironwood moved his Scroll away from his ear and rubbed his eyes, attempting to relieve the stress that had come before Willow Schnee called him personally. All night long, ever since Winter was escorted out of Amity Colosseum, people like Willow had gained a disdain for both him and Winter. They were angry at both of them for the unnecessary attack on Cinder and Flora. Ever since then, General Ironwood had one thing to say, and now he was going to let Winter's mother hear it.

"Winter is a good student," General Ironwood said as he returned to his call. "The staff at Beacon and Atlas are fully aware that she would never lash out the way she did... under normal circumstances. What I believe and hope this to be is nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there." Ironwood looked down and closed his eyes. "Even after the fight is past..."

Willow had heard a similar excuse before when she turned on the news that morning. And between what she saw and how upset Weiss was when she witnessed the attack, Willow was far from finished. "But it must have been an-!"

"That's enough!"

"..."

Willow remained silent on the other end of the call while Ironwood regained his bearings and spoke. "The sad truth is, whether it was an accident or an assault, it doesn't matter. The world saw Winter attack two innocent students. They've already drawn their own conclusions."

"I know," Willow finally said. "James, I don't care how you choose to handle the rest of the situation. All I want is for you to send Winter straight home. I need to hear what happened myself."

"Alright. That's what I'll do."

"...Good."

General Ironwood ended the call and turned around. He was in the presence of Ozpin and Glynda, who had simply watched in silence as their guest conducted his unexpected business with Willow Schnee.

"This is terrible," Professor Goodwitch said as she watched the General move closer to the desk.

"I meant what I said," Ironwood declared. "None of this is my doing."

Glynda rubbed her forehead. "You think we don't know that? You don't need to protect your public image around us, James."

"Agreed," Ozpin said calmly. "It appears Ms. Schnee's actions were of her own volition. And from what you said when you entered, she seems to know the same thing."

Ironwood slowly nodded. "Winter's hysterical, but she's being cooperative and honest. She saw the footage, and remembers everything. Her teammate as well."

"Yes, Ms. Polendina. It must have come as a shock to her. Tell me, James, what exactly did she tell you?"

"..."

---

Last night

"Penny, I know this is a difficult time," Ironwood said as he looked down at the discomforted young girl. "So I'll try to keep this brief. All I want is for you to describe what happened."

"..."

Ironwood could tell by Penny's silent demeanor and apparent inability to look at him that this was going to be a little more difficult.

"Penny?"

"..."

"Penny, are you listening?"

This time, Penny slowly looked up. "Affirmative, sir," she said calmly while putting her hands behind her back. "One of my technician's extracted my video footage of the event."

"Yes, I've seen it. But I believe your first hand experience can prove a working theory; that Winter experienced a burst of stress and adrenaline. Is there any way you could have detected that?"

"A... Affirmative." Penny straightened her posture as she spoke her mind. "Winter's behavior before the match indicated a culmination of stress and anger."

"I see. You were created with thermal lenses in your eyes, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Penny's eyes changed from a light green to a light orange. General Ironwood couldn't see it, but Penny was examining his body temperature while staring at him.

"Were you able to detect any excessive heat when Winter attacked the students?" Ironwood asked.

"I was not. But the recording that was extracted can be technically played back in thermal vision. If you have the proper technician and-or medical personnel examine it, they may be able to confirm your theory."

"Very well." Ironwood backed away from Penny. "You've had a long night, and you'll have a longer one tomorrow."

"Sir?" Penny asked.

"Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck also examined the footage," Ironwood explained. "They thought you'd like to know that you were the first to break Cinder's Aura, you were faster by a few milliseconds."

Penny soon realized that her primary purpose in the Vytal Festival was even closer. If she won the tournament, General Ironwood could explain how she could better help the people of Remnant. "That's... wonderful news!" she said.

"I know," Ironwood said with a smile. "It seems you'll be progressing to the singles round. But I'd like to hear your choice in the matter."

Penny's smile faded. "Excuse me?"

Ironwood stopped smiling as he explained what he meant. "The people of Remnant are beginning to draw their own conclusions about Winter's actions. While I hope to prove it was an accident, I don't know if it will ease the tension. And I highly doubt the only remaining Atlesian fighting in the singles rounds will clear the air."

"You... believe I should forfeit?" Penny asked. "You may be correct. But... the tournament was meant to... show what I can do."

"I know, I know. But this changes things. If you don't agree, we can stay the course. But trust me; no one will fault you if you decide not to compete."

"I... do not know. Nobody may be happy, but... I have come too far to stop now."

"Take some time to think it over. I know you'll make the right choice."

---

Present

"...Penny said she knew Winter was angry," said General Ironwood. "And that she knew Winter was stressed prior to her battle. Like I said, it may be a result of stress."

"What about the idea to back out of the tournament?" Glynda asked.

"She's still thinking it over. I just hope whatever choice she makes will be the first step to keeping the peace."

"Will you be seeing her again soon, James?" Ozpin asked calmly.

"Yes, right before the singles round begins."

Ozpin's chair moved to look out the window. "Then please, give Ms. Polendina my regards. And some friendly advice; remember what this festival stands for."

"What it stands for?" Ironwood asked.

"The Great War was one of mankind's greatest mistakes. We choose to remember the peace and friendship we have gained, instead of all we have lost and taken. We took the first step to rectify that mistake by creating this festival, for every Kingdom to make amends for the damage they inflicted. Perhaps Ms. Polendina can do that for young Winter."

"...Perhaps."

Ozpin moved his chair back towards Irownood and Glynda. "In the meantime, we should focus on the bigger problem at hand."

"The Grimm," said Glynda. "The negativity from last night is causing activity to skyrocket."

"My troops are doing the best they can to hold them back," said Ironwood. "But we need help. We need Huntsmen."

"I've sent the message out. And I'll be joining the help we've acquired." Glynda made her way to the elevator. "Besides... there's something I need to tell Djarin."

---

*BOOM*

*SLASH*

*BANG*

Those were the only sounds Glynda could hear when her airship landed outside of Vale. Just as she said before, a spike in Grimm activity had begun last night. And now, soldiers and Huntsmen were spread across the city's border, doing what they could. The skirmish had begun since morning, and refused to show any signs of stopping after three hours. All while the people were trying to get over what had happened last night.

And Glynda began to help her fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses by using her riding crop and Semblance to both kill Grimm and repair what they destroyed. Just as she killed a pack of Beowolves, Glynda witnessed an Alpha pounce towards her. And a black blade had just cut it in half, with its wielder landing at the side.

"You've gotten better with that, Djarin," Glynda said as she swung at another Grimm.

"I only use it when I need to," said the Mandalorian. He lowered the blade and pulled out his small blaster. "My guns haven't failed me before. And they're faster than a blade."

Glynda rolled her eyes. "Perhaps you're too slow."

Djarin lowered his pistol after he shot another Grimm. "Was that a joke?"

"It was. I'm attempting to clear the negativity."

Just as Glynda said that, a new figure had joined the fight with a large scythe. Qrow Branwen had jumped over his allies and cleaved a large Griffon in half. He chuckled as he turned back to his allies. "Yeah, good luck with that, Glynda," he said.

Glynda lowered her crop and looked around as the Atlas soldiers and other Huntsmen were dealing with what appeared to be stragglers. "Is that all that's left?" she asked.

"Right here, at least," Qrow said as his scythe transformed back into a long sword. "Some of the other Mandos were here earlier, they really packed a punch."

"I had the idea to call for help when I saw the news," said Djarin. "They sent at least ten, and that's why everything here is just black smoke."

"Even for Mandalorians, that's impressive."

"Tell that to the Atlesians who drove them off." Djarin looked to Glynda. "When the soldiers and droids got here, they 'insisted' to take care of the rest themselves. Now the other Mandalorians are eastward."

Glynda nodded in understanding. "I can have a talk with James if you like," she generously offered. "Make sure everyone here is treated with respect."

"I'd appreciate that. But everyone's drawing their own conclusions about last night. Mainly with Cinder's armor and Winter's attack."

"I have to admit, Cinder saw a very clever loophole in the system. Though I'm sure the rules have been changed now."

"..."

Glynda and Qrow immediately took the Mandalorian's silence as a sign of concern. "How is she?" Glynda asked. "I haven't had the chance to see her."

"Physically, she's doing fine," said Djarin. "But she's far from happy."

"Can you blame her?" Qrow asked. "What about her teammate?"

"Cinder said that Merri called her. They're going to Mistral to be with some distant relatives. Until they land, nobody can ask Flora what exactly happened."

"Winter's been talking to James," Glynda pointed out. "Apparently, she's hysterical. But she remembers everything and knows what she did."

"I don't want Cinder talking to Winter right now," Djarin said. "She agreed."

"Did she say anything else?"

"..."

---

Last night

Cinder had finally left Amity Colosseum with her father. The attack to the exposed part of her armor wasn't very serious, far less serious than what happened to Flora. Despite the medics protesting, she decided to take Djarin's offer to teleport her back to her room.

As soon as she was back in her own dorm room, Cinder slowly made her way to her bed. The movements weren't without pain, so Cinder had a hard time getting in bed.

"Try not to move too much," said Djarin, who moved her covers for her.

"Thanks," she said. "And, uh... thanks for... coming."

"You kidding? I wasn't going to miss the fight. Even after what happened."

Cinder frowned. "Yeah. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so angry."

"I'm sorry, too," the Mandalorian quickly said. "Sometimes... I guess I get carried away. And I just see things that aren't there."

"...That's not completely true." Cinder slowly sat up. "You were right, about what you said before. All of it."

"Did you... want to talk about it?" Djarin quickly realized that this was the last thing he should be asking. "Actually, we can talk when you're feeling better."

"No, it's fine," Cinder insisted. "It's now or never."

"Take your time."

Cinder decided to take the offer and began to explain everything. How what she learned from her mother had sent her down a spiral of fear and self-loathing. And how she hoped using her armor would make everyone see the Mandalorians in a different light.

"I just... wanted to show how different we were," said Cinder. "That you and I aren't what everyone usually makes Mandalorians out to be." Cinder shifted to her side. "But I could hear the Atlesians, they didn't care. And now that I think about it... I don't think she changed either." Cinder dried her eyes. "Gods, I was so childish."

"...You were optimistic," said Djarin. "Cinder... blind optimism rarely helps anyone, but no optimism means you can't do anything. And everyone here, student and teacher, knows you're a good person. Don't blame yourself for being who you are."

"How can I not?" Cinder asked as she turned around. "As soon as I learned how my birth-father died, I got scared. I lied, I pushed you away, and I screwed up! And I still don't know what to do!"

"What do you mean?"

"Dad, I was able to figure out who I was, just like I wanted to. But I also learned how bad Mandalorians can be. I don't like hurting people, but now I see I'm the minority. Don't you remember how Ironwood thought you were brainwashing me when I was a kid? Or when Glynda thought you were like Death Watch?"

"..."

"I get it now." Cinder quickly took off her necklace. "Where I see strength, everyone sees spite! Not just Atlas, but people all over the world! My mother knows people who hate the Mandalorians just as she does!"

"..."

"I just..." Cinder moved back down and began to cry. "How can I undo so much hate?"

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do." Cinder turned around once more, away from Djarin. "You're proud to be who you are, Dad. You wouldn't understand."

"..."

Djarin took the hint and decided now would be the best time to leave. "If you need anything, just call me," he said calmly.

"I will," Cinder replied without looking at him. "Thanks."

---

Present

"...Nothing important."

Glynda and Qrow looked at each other, sharing a sense of worry from Djarin's long time to answer. However, it seemed to be the perfect way for Glynda to bring up what she wanted to say to the Mandalorian.

"Djarin... did she say anything about her mother?" Glynda asked.

"That's... none of your concern," Djarin insisted as he turned away. He began to walk towards one place where Grimm were tearing more buildings and was about to teleport himself there.

"I think I may have made it my concern."

Djarin turned around, ready to shut down the conversation. "Can this wait until later?" he asked.

"I wish it could," Glynda said. "I know it's sensitive, but I think I found something serious. And I need to show you. Please."

Even though Glynda couldn't understand it, Qrow was able to see how sensitive this conversation was. "I'll, uh, get outta the way," he said as he ran off to join a group of Atlesian soldiers.

The Mandalorian wasn't in the mood to talk about Cinder's mother, not after all the unexpected trouble it caused. But he also knew how Glynda's stubborn nature was hard to change, how she sought to bring what her mind told her into reality. So with a heavy heart, Djarin made an offer.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said. "So... I can just listen."

"Very well," said Glynda, who took out her Scroll. "I would have shown you earlier, but I had to do more digging. And Ms. Schnee's attack was more important at the moment."

"You're losing me."

Glynda looked up. "Right, sorry." She cleared her throat and mentally readied herself to continue speaking. "Djarin... how sure are you that Cinder met her mother?"

The Mandalorian continued to stare at Glynda. "Is that relevant?"

"I believe it is." She quickly clicked a file on her Scroll and showed it to the Mandalorian. It was a picture of Cinder and Flora.

"What am I looking at?" Djarin asked.

"Results from our work," Glynda explained. "Do you remember when I was trying to get you to help me with creating matches for the tournament?" She continued her explanation without Djarin giving an acknowledgement of the event. "The program I was using detected an anomaly with Cinder and Flora."

"What kind of anomaly?"

"That their medical records had a match in Beacon's computer system. I quickly realized Flora was here because of her two sisters, that their records were identical. But Cinder was a different case."

The Mandalorian finally became invested in what Glynda had to offer. It wasn't as large as she was hoping, but Djarin was starting to take it seriously. "So what, Cinder's medical record matches someone else?" he asked. "Blood type, maybe?"

"A common blood type wouldn't give off this anomaly," Glynda explained. "This only happens when there's a perfect match. A relative match."

Djarin finally understood what it was that Glynda was trying to say. "Wait a minute. Are you saying Cinder's related to a Beacon Huntsman?"

"Not just any Huntsman." Glynda moved her finger across her Scroll. "According to the Beacon database, Cinder's a perfect match to this student." She showed him a picture of a young man with brown hair and amber eyes, someone who looked identical to Cinder. Not only that, but the Mandalorian recognized the name.

"Victor Embers?" he read out loud before looking back to Glynda. "Your teammate?"

Glynda nodded. "I was surprised myself," she solemnly confessed. "We still keep deceased Huntsmen and Huntresses in the database system. Ozpin thought it was unfair if their identification number was given to another student. That they deserved to be remembered for fighting the Grimm. I agree, of course, and it seemed his idea paid off."

"You can say that again." Djarin looked back to the picture. "But are you sure this is right? Maybe there was a mistake."

"Oh, believe me, I spent a half hour trying to see if there was a mistake," the professor insisted. "But no, this is the real deal. My best guess is that they're distant cousins."

"Your best guess?" Djarin looked back to Glynda. "Did Beacon's database tell you anything else?"

"No, just that they're related. But given my ties with Victor, I couldn't let this go. Yesterday and earlier today, I was able to find out more about the Embers family. My position as a Huntress and Professor at Beacon made that easy."

"I'll bet."

"Yes, well... here's why I thought this was all important." Glynda looked down at her Scroll again, moving her finger left and right. "According to every record I found, the Embers family is mostly located in Mistral."

"That's where Cinder's from. Before she moved to Atlas."

"Yes, and I was able to find files on every Embers... except Cinder." Glynda showed more files with pictures as proof of her claim. Each family member she found bore little to no resemblance to Cinder. "And yet all of them are accounted for. Living or dead."

"...All of them?"

"All of them."

Djarin began to see that something wasn't adding up. The lack of a file on Cinder could be explained by the first orphanage that burned down. However, the story of her mother knowing that she existed and doing nothing about it when she was lost didn't make sense.

"Glynda... did you find the latest member of the Embers family?" Djarin asked. "Specifically, anyone's recent daughter?"

"I did," Glynda replied. "That was the first thing I looked at when trying to find anything about Cinder, and all I found for the youngest girl in their family is one Jennifer Embers, a twenty year-old."

"Where is she now?"

"In Argus. She just started working as a technician for their relay tower."

Djarin held out his hand. "May I-?" Glynda handed him the Scroll without hesitation, leaving the Mandalorian to look at the file Glynda had found. After glancing through the other files, he could confirm that Jennifer was indeed the youngest female member of the Embers family-tree. During this search, Djarin found out something else; there was absolutely no mention of a woman named 'Sandie Collins.'

Glynda had noticed that Djarin was staring at the screen longer than she expected. She was fairly certain he was done looking at the files. "Djarin, are you alright?" she asked.

"...No," Djarin replied. He quickly pulled out his pistol and fired it behind Glynda.

*BANG*

Glynda ear rang as she turned to see a Beowolf behind her turning to ash. Djarin, without apologizing, patiently waited for Glynda's ringing to stop. Once it did, he made a demand.

"Go back to wherever you found those files," he said. "See if you can find anything on a woman named 'Sandie Collins.' Tell me her current address."

"What?" Glynda asked as she let go of her ear. "Now? I'm not sure if you noticed, but I came here to help with the Grimm."

Djarin quickly turned around and fired three blasts into another Beowolf. "I'll be fine. Do it."

"..."

Glynda instantly regretted showing the Mandalorian what she found. She knew he was having the same idea, that the woman Cinder met may have been an imposter. Glynda didn't know why someone would do this, but the idea of Cinder being a Maiden came to mind. Since she didn't need anyone to tell her how important this was, she decided to do as she was told.

---

Dusk had fallen on Beacon Academy, and Cinder decided to leave her room to walk around the campus. She knew the finals round of the Vytal Festival Tournament would begin later, but she decided that she had her fill of fighting for one night. And with Penny being declared the winner of the fight, Cinder could use the free time to think back on everything.

Unfortunately, everyone she walked past had something to say.

"You doing okay, Cinder?"

"You should've won."

"Totally uncalled for."

"Man, poor Cinder."

"Let us know if you need anything."

Cinder decided to do her thinking in the library, where she had the most privacy. After she sat at an isolated desk, the young Maiden thought back on what she told her father. She was surprised nobody mentioned her armor while she walked around, but maybe it was only Atlas that felt like it was a cheat.

Even still, Cinder knew that she was right about it all. She had no chance of showing the world that she wasn't like the Mandalorians that chose to hurt people. The fact that hurt the most was how she could create just about anything as a Maiden, but she couldn't create a good example for the world.

She wished she had what her father had; he was used to the hate, to the assumptions everyone made about him. If he was in Sandie's apartment with her, he wouldn't have questioned himself at all. He would still be strong, he would still be proud to be a Mandalorian, but more importantly... he would still be her father.

And Cinder had done a poor job as a daughter lately.

"Hey, you're alive!"

Cinder's brooding ceased when she heard a familiar voice to her left. A young girl was running up to her, one with blonde hair and a smile on her face. Cinder recognized her as one of her acquaintances at Beacon Academy, someone she didn't have the chance to talk to in a while.

"Hey, Lily," Cinder said with a forced smile. "Yeah, I'm alive. And kicking."

Lilith Gelb's smile disappeared. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "I mean, does it hurt anywhere?"

Cinder rubbed the spot on her back where Winter attacked. "My back's fine. It only hurts when I bend down."

"Oh, okay." Lilith immediately sat down next to Cinder. "And everything else? How's Flora?"

"Her sisters rushed her to Mistral to be with some relatives. That was the last thing Merri told me, and I haven't heard from them since."

"Oh, Gods. That's terrible."

Cinder simply nodded as she thought back to what everyone had told her. Beacon students she passed while walking to the library expressed their sympathies while saying what Winter did was uncalled for. She agreed and she was still extremely angry at Winter, angry enough to still ignore her calls.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Cinder looked at her Scroll and saw yet again another call from Winter. She ignored the call and looked back to Lilith. "Sorry, what were you saying?" she asked politely.

"Oh, nothing," Lilith replied. "I don't mean to pry, but was that Winter?"

Cinder sighed once again. "Yeah. I don't know, I'm sure she wants to apologize or explain everything. But this is just too much right now. I mean, stress and anger are one thing, but can it really cause someone to willingly attack someone else like that?"

"I'm trying to figure that out too."

Cinder looked back to Lilith, who was rubbing her hands together while looking down at the table. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Listen, Cinder... this might sound weird, but I know you and Winter are friends," Lilith began. "I was actually wondering if... you'd let me talk to Winter?"

"What? Why?"

"I saw the fight last night, and was wondering if... No, forget it." Lilith got up from her seat. "It's stupid, don't worry about it."

She began to walk away from the table, but Cinder stopped her by touching her arm. "Wait, it's not stu-"

"Don't touch me!"

Lilith quickly recoiled from Cinder's touch, leaving both girls surprised and feeing awkward at the situation. Cinder was stunned into silence, leaving Lilith to be the one to talk. "Sorry," she sincerely said. "I'm just... trying to be careful."

"Careful?" Cinder asked. "Lily, are you okay?"

Lilith rubbed a hand through her hair. "I don't know. Something... really weird happened to me recently."

---

Yesterday

"Look at them all. They think they're so cool."

"They kinda are cool. Their match was over in less than two minutes."

Lilith and her team were currently sitting in Beacon's amphitheater, watching a victorious team train for the doubles round of the tournament. Lilith's team had won as well, but just barely. Lilith and her teammate Andrea had been eliminated in the first minute of the match. Andrea was one of the students abducted from Beacon by the Saxon Clan, and she was still recovering from her injuries there. Lilith, however, was overconfident and oblivious to a shot hitting her back.

"Come on, girls," said their team leader, Max Bolt. "So you two got eliminated. It's not the end of the world."

"Easy for you to say," Lilith argued. "You're going to the doubles round with Garret."

"Still. It's just a tournament, not life or death. Besides, you'll have a better chance to enjoy the rest of the festival. Garret and I are stuck here training."

"I guess, but playing carnival games and winning stuffed animals isn't really my thing."

"Come on, there's gotta be something there you can find. I heard a couple of new stands are going in. Maybe you and Andrea can win us something before the doubles round."

Lilith chuckled as she sat up. "You'll get your prize when we get our team into the singles round."

"Deal." Max looked over to Andrea. "You want in, Andrea?"

"Nah," she said as she stood up and looked behind Lilith. "I don't think I wanna be a third wheel for Lily." She pointed behind her teammate, specifically at a red-haired girl with green eyes. "I've been watching her glance at you ever since we came in here."

Lilith got a good look at the girl, who quickly looked away when she knew she was being watched. Lilith got the idea and turned back to Andrea. "What would I do without you?" she asked with a smirk. "Alright." She flipped her hair and turned around. "Watch and learn."

"Yeah, right," Max said, earning a slight nudge from Andrea.

"She's serious," she said. "She's got so many plays, she could fill out a whole book. I figured you of all people would wanna see what she's got in store."

"Plays?" Max quickly had an idea. "Oh, wait. Does that have to do with the notebook I accidentally grabbed?"

"That's the playbook!" Andrea laughed when she fell back in her seat. "Oh, my God! The look on your stupid face!"

Max laughed as well. "You know, I think I did see a few things in there that would work. But really, can it help with any girl?"

"How do you think I met Lily?"

"..."

Andrea slightly hit her team leader's arm and laughed. "Just kidding! But really, I've seen her work miracles. Like right now." Max turned to see Lilith approach a part of the amphitheater with the girl she just met. They were currently talking with one of the boys who was sparring, a young brown-haired man with red eyes and a silver jacket. "Yeah, I know this one. She's gonna spar with that girl's teammate and throw the match."

"Throw the match?" Max asked. "Why would she do that?"

"She just made a bet with the girl, see who'll buy them next meal," Andrea explained. "When Lily loses, she'll buy. And who can turn down a free meal?"

"...You're kidding."

Andrea pointed to the sparring students. "Watch."

Max obeyed and silently began to observe the sparring duel between Lilith and the teammate of her soon-to-be date. Max could tell that she was slightly holding back, since she wasn't using her weapons and aiming strictly for the torso, which was well protected. And she blocked a couple of punches from her opponent, but didn't protect herself from punches to her own torso.

"Okay, I see where this is going," said Max.

"It'll all be over soon," Andrea promised.

Suddenly, the lights around the large room began to flicker. The flickering became noticeable when the lights above Max and Andrea almost went out. Their first instinct was to look to the light switches by the door. Max saw that they were set between the "On" and "Off" positions. Max slowly moved to the switches and moved them upright, lifting the brief darkness from the practice arena. "Guess someone hit them by accident," he said as he moved back to the sparring match.

Andrea looked closely at her teammate and saw her get back up. "Huh, I thought she was gonna call it," she said. "Guess she wants to make it look real."

Lilith was doing a good job at that. She had stopped aiming for the torso and gone for her opponent's head and legs. In fact, she was moving at a remarkable speed with each strike. Her opponent had found it harder to block each strike, so he dodged when he could. And when he returned the strikes, Lilith seemed to be unaffected. And she also seemed to be angry.

"Jeez," Max said in awe. "She really wants to win."

"What the heck is she doing?" Andrea asked. "I thought she was gonna lose the match."

Lilith suddenly grabbed her opponent's fist and attacked him with a head-butt. The boy fell to the ground and began to engage his Aura. This didn't stop Lilith, who landed on top of him and began punch his face.

"Whoa!" Max shouted. "Where'd that come from?!"

"She's not stopping!" Andrea screamed as she ran over to her teammate. "Lily! Lily, stop!" Max had caught on and was sharing the same feeling that Andrea had. He also ran over and grabbed Lilith's arm, who struggled in the grip. Andrea was doing the same with her other arm, also having trouble in restraining her teammate. "Lily, get off him!"

Max felt shivers go down his spine when he could hear what sounded like his own teammate growling at him. "Lily, chill out!" he ordered. When she showed no signs of relenting, Max held her tight and jumped to the side, finally getting his teammate off the boy she was sparring with.

Andrea saw that Lilith was under control, so she decided to help the boy off the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Man, what's her beef?!" the boy asked. "I thought she just wanted to spar!"

"So did we! I'm sorry, she's not normally like this!" Andrea turned to see Lilith on the ground with Max pinning her down. "Max, do something!"

"Lily, calm down!" Max ordered as he held Lily down. Again, she showed no signs of letting go of her anger. Max was beginning to understand that his words were having no effect on her. He had one idea, but he knew it might make things worse. Nevertheless, there seemed to be no other way of calming her down. "Sorry, Lil. This is for your own good." He then engaged his Aura and sent his fist flying into her face.

*BAM*

---

Present

"And the more I think about it, the more it sounds like what happened to Winter."

Cinder sat in silence as Lilith finished her story. And to say that the events were similar would be an understatement. Cinder remembered how angry Winter looked when she attacked her and Flora, how she looked like a deer in headlights when she saw what she had done. Lilith's reaction sounded all too similar, and Cinder had the nagging feeling to investigate further.

"You just... didn't stop attacking that guy?" she finally asked. "Out of impulse?"

"I have no idea what came over me," Lilith insisted. "I remembered everything when I woke up, and I felt... compelled to hurt him. Thankfully, he wasn't too hurt."

"You said you were angry too?"

"A little, just before the sparring duel. I came close to my Aura falling in the red when I was in the teams match, so that was bothering me."

"But not enough to-"

"Not enough to make me wanna hurt someone! But that's what happened!" Lilith began to calm down. "It's been driving me crazy ever since it happened, so I was hoping Winter experienced the same thing. I just wanna know if it really was an accident, for her and me."

Cinder leaned back on her chair as she continued to analyze what her companion had said. "Maybe... Maybe it was just an accident," she said before looking back to Lilith. "That's all that happened to you?"

"Yeah," Lilith confirmed. "Actually... yes and no."

"Huh?"

Lilith looked around her immediate surroundings, seeing more students talking amongst themselves and paying no attention to her. So she turned back to Cinder. "That wasn't the only thing that happened," she said with a twinge of anxiety. "After I apologized to that guy, I decided to chill out in my room for the rest of the day. It was near the end of the day, so I got ready to take a shower. But then..." Lilith rolled up the sleeve to a spot that Cinder had nearly touched, revealing a large, chalk-white mark on her arm. "I saw this."

Cinder looked closer and gasped. "What the hell is that?" she asked.

"I have no idea." Lilith rolled her sleeve back down. "I was going to see the nurse about it when I saw it wasn't going away, but then I saw you first and got the idea."

Cinder looked away from Lilth's arm. "Does it hurt?"

"No, and that's even weirder. But it feels cold when you touch it."

"...Cold?"

"Yeah. I don't know if it's contagious, so I don't want to take any chances. That's why I didn't want you touching me." Lilith immediately stood up from the table. "But yeah, I should have the nurse check it out now. And forget about talking to Winter for me, what I said was stupid. I'll see you later."

"O-Okay. See ya."

Cinder watched Lilith walk away, where both girls were left to their own devices. While she wasn't sure what the nurse could do for Lilith, Cinder found herself more concerned with everything she just heard and saw. The undeniable similarities between Winter's and Lilith's incidents were too closely related to be called a coincidence. And if Lilith regretted doing it just as much as she sounded, then there was a possibility that Winter's attack was an accident.

But what Cinder was more focused on than that possibility was the white skin Lilith had shown. Not only did it look abnormal, but Cinder felt that it looked... familiar.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Cinder thoughts were interrupted once again. This time, it was the sound of her Scroll, which showed yet another call from Winter. Her tenacity and stubbornness were showing themselves again, and Cinder would almost respect these qualities if it wasn't about Winter's attack. She really didn't want to talk to her, but she knew one thing after talking to Lilith.

She had to.

So with a heavy heart, Cinder answered the call and put the Scroll to her ear. "Winter?" she asked calmly.

"Cinder!" said a voice on the other end, one that felt exhausted and relieved. "Listen, I know you're upset, but I have to talk to you!"

Cinder sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Winter, listen-"

"Please, just hear me out! I am sorry! I am so sorry about the tournament!"

"Winter-"

"I know you must have heard General Ironwood saying it was stress and adrenaline, but that's still no excuse. I don't know how, or when-"

"Winter-"

"Please, let me finish! I promise, I'll find some way to make-"

"WINTER!" Cinder screamed as she pounded her fist on the table she was sitting at. When she heard silence on the other end, Cinder took the opportunity to talk. "We need to talk, about all of it. But this needs to be on my terms. And all I want is for you to sit and listen."

"...Understood," Winter replied on the other end.

"Okay." Cinder cleared her throat before talking again. "My dad told me that General Ironwood talked to Penny. She said she knew you were angry when you regained consciousness."

"..."

"Is that true?"

"Cinder... I was stupid, I had this stupid ego after meeting Admiral-"

"I don't care about that," Cinder said. "Is what Penny said true?"

"...Yes, it is."

"Did you act out on this anger? Did you feel... compelled to attack me and Flora?"

"I did."

Cinder thought back on what Penny and Lilith had told her, which led her to ask another question. "How else did you feel?"

"I... I don't follow," Winter replied.

"Forget about emotion. Did you feel... cold? Exactly?"

"Why are you-?"

"Just... answer the question. Please."

"I... Yes, I did. I remember everything I did, and how I felt. Now that I think about it... I was cold. All over, actually."

Along with continuing to press her friend for answers, Cinder began to pray. Pray that she was wrong about the idea she had in her head.

"Winter, do you regret what you did?"

"Yes, I do! I promise, I will never hurt you again! General Ironwood told me I'm going home soon, and I'll be sure to take a hard look at myself, to see if I should still be a cadet. But if there's even the slightest chance I could hurt you or anyone again, I'll forget the whole thing, I promise."

"That... might not be an issue." Cinder took a deep breath before speaking again. "But Winter... there is one way I can believe you never meant to hurt me or Flora."

"Of course. Anything."

"This will sound... weird. But-"

"Cinder, I said anything."

"Okay." Cinder took another deep breath, but her nerves refused to disappear. "Winter... I think there may be something wrong with you," she began. "Something that you don't even know yourself."

"I have a temper, you're right," said Winter. "I think Father may have rubbed off on me after all."

"No, forget that. Where are you right now?"

"In one of the dorms at Beacon. It's one of a few reserved for Atlas students."

"Is there a mirror in there?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Go look in it."

"..."

"Winter?"

"I'm looking," Winter replied. "Why am I doing this?"

"To find out something." Cinder's hand began to shake, but she ignored it. "What do you see?"

"Myself."

"...Okay, let me rephrase that. Do you see anything sticking out? Something different about yourself?"

"Like what? A scar?"

"Something like that, that you haven't seen on yourself before. Do you see it?"

"...No."

Cinder sighed once again. "Forget your face," she ordered. "Look on your arms, your legs, your back. Tell me if-"

"Cinder, what are you saying?" Winter asked. "I do want to make amends, but this... I don't see how this is helping."

"Look, l get it. But this is important, and you owe me this." Cinder realized how this made her sound, but she didn't care. One way or another, she was going to see if she was right.

"...Okay," Winter relented. "Where do I... need to look?"

"Start with your arms. Look for something you didn't notice before."

"I'm looking. But can you at least tell me what this is all-?"

Cinder was stunned with the sudden moment of silence. "...What this is all what, Winter?" she asked.

"..."

"Winter?" Cinder found her hand shaking even more as she stood up. "Winter, are you there?"

"I-I'm here," Winter replied. The short stutter made Cinder realize something was wrong. "Sorry, I just-"

"Did you see something?"

"Um... it's nothing. I can get it looked at and-"

"Winter, is there a white spot on your skin? Something as white as snow?"

"...How did you know that?"

"..."

The shaking for Cinder stopped, but her entire body became numb when Winter asked that question. The fear of the Gods had found its way into Cinder's heart as she felt herself sitting down, and there wasn't anything on Remnant that could calm her down.

"Cinder, how did you know that?" Winter asked again. "I... You're right, okay? Yes, there's a... a white spot on my arm. Do you know what it is?"

Cinder found her voice when Winter asked that question. "I have to go," she said.

"What? But, Cinder-"

*BEEP*

Cinder ended the call and threw her Scroll across the table. Panic found its way throughout her body and caused her to breathe heavily. Now she knew that something was very wrong, and not just with Winter. Someone else had experienced the same thing as her, and whatever it was, it was spreading.

And any one of Beacon's residents could be next.

Cinder was able to answer some of her questions, to verify that Winter and Lilith were innocent. But the answers had left more questions. As she began to calm down, Cinder tried to ask these questions to herself one at a time.

What was going on?

Why were Lilith and Winter affected by it?

Could it happen to her as well?

Why did the chalk-white skin look so familiar?

Cinder knew she didn't have all the answers, but she was determined to answer the questions. The first one she felt confident in was with the familiarity of the skin.

"Think, Cinder," she said to herself as she closed her eyes and wiped nervous sweat off her brow. "Something made Lily and Winter hurt people. It left some kind of... calling card? How? How is that-No, no, stop." Cinder stood up, picked up her Scroll, and began to walk outside. "Calm down, and think. I saw that thing before, I know I did. But where?"

Her mind drew a blank as she continued to walk, but she suddenly had an idea. Since she had spent so much of her time with her father at Beacon, maybe he could recognize what she was talking about and help her. So she quickly ran to the faculty dorms, ran up the stairs, and knocked on the Mandalorian's door.

"Dad?" she called out as she stopped knocking. "Dad, are you in there?"

There was no answer.

Cinder used her Scroll to unlock the door, which she always did when she lived in the room with him, and opened it. Suddenly, as she stared into the room, Cinder had the strangest sense of déjà vu. A gut feeling was telling her that the answer to her question was somewhere in the room. But she hadn't been here since she and Djarin found a dead body on the floor.

"Did you burn yourself?"

"No. He's... cold."

Relieving the memory made Cinder's body grow numb once again. She dropped her Scroll as she looked onto the spot where they found the dead body.

The pale dead body.

The chalk-white dead body.

"He's... cold."

"But it feels cold when you touch it."

"Now that I think about it... I was cold."

When all the pieces had finally come together, Cinder's thoughts returned to the present.

"Oh, my Gods."

Cinder picked up her Scroll and quickly ran away. She frantically dialed a number and put the Scroll to her ear. "Cinder?" a voice asked on the other end.

"Dad!" Cinder screamed as she ran down a flight of stairs. "Where are you?"

---

"Where am I?" Djarin asked. He found himself looking around his environment, which was a suburban part of the city. He continued to walk down the sidewalk as he continued his call. "I'm in Vale, with Qrow. Why?"

"Vale?" Cinder asked on the other end of the call. "Are you still trying to clear out the Grimm?"

"It's under control, more or less. I'm actually doing something else, something you need to-"

"No, listen to me! We're in trouble! Big trouble!"

"Trouble?" Djarin stopped in his tracks. "What kind of trouble?"

"What'd ya say?" Qrow asked as he looked back to the Mandalorian. But Djarin put his hand up to make Qrow stop talking so he could listen to Cinder.

"I know why Winter attacked me, why she attacked Flora!" Cinder replied. "It's the Chill! The one you tried to find when I was at Mountain Glenn! It's back!"

"The Chill?" Djarin asked. He knew what Cinder was talking about, he remembered how their search went cold, but all the focus on arresting the Saxons at Mountain Glenn took priority. It was later proven that they were using the Chill to kidnap students and recruit them into their clan. Everyone assumed the Chill had fled when the plan was foiled, but Cinder's story said otherwise. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Cinder answered. "It possessed Winter to make her attack me, and started to turn her skin white before it left! The same thing happened to Lily, she did exactly what Winter did and saw the same thing!"

"This makes no sense." Djarin leaned against a wall as he continued his conversation. "Why would it do that?"

"That doesn't matter! Everyone at Amity is in danger! I need your help!"

"I'm on my way." Djarin ended the call and turned back to Qrow. "We need to go back."

"To Beacon?" Qrow asked. "What's going on?"

"Cinder thinks the Chill we couldn't find is still there. She thinks it's possessing students to make them hurt each other."

"The Chill?" Qrow began to see how bad that was. "But... if it can make students hurt each other-"

"It won't be long before it makes students kill each other." Djarin turned to a TV in a window, which was showing a countdown to the beginning of the Vytal Festival Tournament's singles round. "And on live television." The Mandalorian stuck out his hand. "Come on, my Aura can still take the two of us back to Beacon."

"But the building's right there," Qrow said as he pointed behind the Mandalorian. "We came all this way."

"We can worry about that later. Cinder needs help."

Qrow began to move his hand to take Djarin's, ready to teleport back to Beacon and find the Chill. Suddenly, another idea came to mind; one that made him move his hand back.

"No, you go back," Qrow ordered. "I'll do what we came here to do."

"But Qrow-!"

"Just hear me out, Mando! My Semblance might have made us unlucky when we first looked for that thing. If we do that now, my Semblance might act up. This is different, it won't matter if my Semblance does its thing." He began to walk away from the Mandalorian. "I'll come to Beacon as soon as I can, just trust me."

Djarin took a few seconds to think about the idea. While he doubted Qrow's Semblance would affect the hunt for the Chill, he saw that this could be a way to kill two birds with one stone.

"Alright," the Mandalorian relented. "But be back soon. We have no idea where this thing is."

"Then you better get going," Qrow said as he began to walk away. He couldn't see it, but Djarin had used his Semblance to go back to Beacon. Qrow smiled as he made his way to the building, now that he was free to do things his own way.

The truth behind his desire to go alone wasn't entirely because of his Semblance; Qrow Branwen felt personally motivated to go on with his mission. Not for himself, but for a young girl he cared about, who had just been wronged without even knowing it. But how could she know it? The target Qrow was looking for probably played people older than her for a living, but that time had ended now.

She couldn't hear it, but Qrow promised Cinder that she would know the truth about everything.

While they were continuing to hold the line against the Grimm, the Mandalorian had explained to Qrow what Glynda had discovered. It took time, but Glynda's deeper search through the Embers' files had proven fruitful in an unexpected way. Just as Djarin expected, Sandie Collins wasn't a name listed in the files. However, she was able to find that she indeed existed, at least in the Vale hospital records. The file even had an address, one that the Mandalorian was dead-set on "visiting."

Qrow volunteered to join his friend, to keep an eye on him. After all, keeping tabs on people was what Qrow was good at, whether it was as a bird or himself. And he was sharing Djarin's feelings towards this mystery woman. It was clear that someone was lying about Cinder's parents, whether it was her or someone who had access to medical records. It was possible that the perpetrator could be both, but there were still unanswered questions. And Qrow was determined to seek out those answers when he entered an apartment complex and knocked on the door of room 2A.

And sure enough, a woman matching the photo Qrow saw had answered it. "Can I help you?" she asked calmly.

"Yeah," Qrow bitterly replied. "You Sandie Collins?"

"Um... yes. And you are?"

Qrow quickly took out his Scroll and showed his Huntsman license. "A licensed Huntsman, here to talk about Cinder."

"Cinder?" Ms. Collins' confusion disappeared as she opened the door all the way. "Oh, I see. I have to admit, I was expecting the Mandalorian."

"Mando? Wait, you've been expecting him?" Qrow suddenly became angry. "So you've been messing with two people I know."

Sandie moved aside. "I understand how you feel. Come in, I can explain everything."

---

Cinder's warning had reached the right ears. As soon as Djarin returned to Beacon, they talked to Ozpin, Glynda, and General Ironwood. The first thing they did when they listened to Cinder was call Winter, who reluctantly showed her extraordinary mark to the adults and her friend.

"You were right, Cinder," said the Mandalorian. "This is just like the student we found together."

"By the Gods," Glynda whispered. "How could we have been so careless?"

"It seems these Saxons are attempting to continue their fight," said Ozpin. "Truly despicable."

"But how could this happen?" Ironwood asked. "The arena is protected by a Hard-Light shield. There's no room for an ant to enter the fighting grounds, let alone a Grimm!"

Before anyone could provide a working theory, the sound of a clearing throat caused everyone in the room to look at Winter. "Forgive my boldness, but I have no idea what you're talking about and how this is relevant to me," she said firmly. "General Ironwood, with all due respect, I'd like to know what you're talking about."

Ironwood straightened his collar. "Schnee, we can discuss this aboard my-"

"No, General," said Cinder, who moved closer to Winter. "She can know now." The young girl turned back to her friend. "Winter, I was wrong to be angry at you. I'm sorry. But you deserve to know that you've been set up."

"Set up? How?"

"Before the Vytal Festival began... a group of Mandalorians called the Saxon Clan infiltrated Beacon Academy. We don't know how, but they managed to control a Grimm called a Chill. They used it to lure unsuspecting students to them, to reinforce their ranks."

Winter's jaw dropped with each word Cinder said. Once she was able to recompose herself, she turned to the second person in the room she trusted. "Sir... is this true?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so, Winter," said Ironwood. "We came to Beacon early, we sent the AK-200s, all in order to help track the Grimm down. Once we found the Saxons, we never saw the Chill again. We thought it was gone... until now."

"My Gods." Winter looked at everyone in the room. "But why me? Why did it come to me?"

"We think it's acting on its own," said the Mandalorian. "It may have been drawn to your negativity."

"Or she was set up in more than one way," said Glynda. "Didn't we suggest the idea of a spy at Beacon? Someone who helped these Mandalorians come on the grounds and take students away?"

"We have, indeed," said Ozpin. "This may be related to how the Chill slipped past the shield. But all you need to know, Ms. Schnee, is that we're going to find it before it can hurt anyone else."

Winter nodded. She was happy that her name had been cleared and that she was innocent. But she would feel better by correcting her error of letting her emotions control her and fight with honor and dignity once more. So, she looked back to General Ironwood. "Sir, permission requested to join your efforts."

"Permission denied," Ironwood declared. "The Chill possessed you once, it can do it again. And it won't be long before it can do worse than hurt another student."

"But, sir-!"

"Winter," Cinder said as she stood in her line of view. "You can help by getting yourself out of danger. Go home, and tell your family the truth. Then, we'll tell everyone what the Chill did."

"But you're like me, Cinder. You could be possessed by the Chill, too."

"I'd rather be possessed than watch my best friend be possessed twice. Who knows what could happen to someone possessed twice?"

"..."

Winter was having a hard time finding a flaw in Cinder's logic. While she wanted to help stop the Chill once and for all, she understood how a second attack on her could be worse than the first.

"Winter, I think it's time you leave."

Everyone looked back to General Ironwood. "We'll find the Chill, I promise you," he said. "And you can help by packing your things and going home."

"As soon as the Festival is over, we'll be working day and night to clear your name," said Ozpin.

"We can start with Lilith Gelb," said the Mandalorian. "Cinder told me she was possessed before you, Winter. She can help."

"But first, we need to find this Chill," said General Ironwood. "I have an idea, but we need to make sure nobody is at Amity Colosseum." He took out his Scroll and pressed a few keys. "I'll make an excuse, say that we need to do emergency repairs." As soon as he raised the device to his ear, he just as quickly removed it. "But... the Chill won't have anyone to try and attack." He turned around. "If we evacuate the arena..."

"There's nothing to stop it from leaving with the crowd," said Cinder. "But... we can't use hundreds of people as bait." She turned to everyone in the room before landing her eyes on the Mandalorian. "...Can we?"

"We may not have a choice," said Djarin. "It slipped past us when we evacuated Beacon before, it can do that again."

"That is, if it doesn't know we're on to it," said General Ironwood. "Alright, I'll say the arena itself needs to be fixed, before the finals round can begin." He then put his Scroll to his ear as he moved to the side of the room.

"Glynda, you should go to Amity," said Ozpin. "I will stay behind in case the Chill decides to come back to Beacon."

"I'll tell the soldiers to keep an eye out for anything suspicious," Glynda replied. "In case that's the backup plan this thing has in its so-called 'mind.'"

"I'm going with you," said the Mandalorian. "I'll get my rifle and meet you at the Colosseum."

"I'll go with you, too," said Cinder.

"Perfect, thank you." Ironwood put his Scroll away and looked back to everyone. "Barty and Peter got the message. The finals round is being put on hold. I'll join you all too, but I'd like to take Winter back to my ship."

"I'm ready, sir," said Winter. "I don't have much to pack."

"Then let's be on our way."

General Ironwood led Winter back to the elevator, who waved goodbye to Cinder. The young girl smiled and returned the wave, happy to have cleared both the air and Winter's name. Once the elevator closed, she turned back to everyone else.

"We better get started."

---

"And you believe there is a party at Beacon responsible for this?"

"I have no doubt. I can't do anything about it when I'm searching for the Chill. I need your help, Admiral."

General Ironwood knew he would be taking a risk by entrusting the truth about Winter prematurely, that it would be better to wait until the Chill wouldn't be able to interfere any further. But the idea of someone else picking up where it left off was just as worse, and something that Ironwood knew could be stopped by one man: Thrawn.

"Leave it to me, General," Thrawn proudly declared. He then turned to the young girl beside the General. "And what of Cadet Schnee?"

"She's on her way home now. One of my pilots is preparing my personal ship."

"Will that be right away?"

"It shouldn't take longer than five minutes. Why?"

"I'd like to have a final word with her." Thrawn turned to Winter. "With your permission, of course."

Winter looked back to General Ironwood, who didn't take long to think of a response. "Permission granted, Admiral," he said. "Schnee, I expect you to be on my ship as soon as the green light for takeoff is given."

"Of course, sir," Winter replied. "Understood."

Ironwood nodded at both Winter and Thrawn as he hastily left the Admiral's office. Winter didn't know what to do other than stand at attention for her superior.

"At ease," Thrawn replied. "Please, sit down." Winter sat down at the chair in front of Thrawn's desk, where he had just sat down. "I hope you understand that I'd like to make the most of our limited time, cadet. And I'd like for you to help me."

"I will, sir," Winter replied. "When I'm home, I'll be sure to stay out of sight until my name is cleared."

"A wise decision, given how the Atlas Eye will want to do whatever they can to get their story. However, I believe there is still potential in you, Winter. And your current situation."

"With all due respect, Admiral... I've told General Ironwood everything I remember that night. And the events preceding the fight."

Thrawn leaned back in his seat. "Everything you can remember," he slowly repeated. "What if there's more you can remember?"

"...Sir?"

Thrawn placed his palms together and moved forward. "I believe there are still clues about what happened at Amity, Cadet Schnee. I have already seen the footage, and I have heard from everyone. Everyone... except you."

"I remember everything, sir," Winter stated. "And I told General Ironwood everything I could."

"I am aware," Thrawn said calmly. "But now, I believe I can help you remember more, make you say more than you could have. And with our limited time, I'd like to conduct what's known as a cognitive interview."

"A... cognitive interview?"

"Correct." Thrawn lifted himself with ease from the chair. "The goal of this kind of interview is to revisit memories, examine details previously missed. The process is very brief and very simple, and yet the results are extraordinary."

"You think there's more to my story, Admiral?"

"I believe you may have been the only one to witness the Chill enter the arena, break its defenses and latch itself onto you." Thrawn walked closer to Winter. "And if there's anyone who can go through this terrible experience once again and persevere, I believe it is you, Winter."

The words awoke Winter's determination and sense of duty to the Atlas military, which led her to accepting the Admiral's offer. "How can I help?" she bluntly asked as she prepared herself for whatever came her way.

"Close your eyes," Thrawn ordered. Winter obeyed without hesitation, leaving Thrawn to conduct his business. "Take me back to that night, Winter. Tell me the first thing you can see."

Winter obeyed once again and began to remember where she was when she arrived at Amity Colosseum. "I'm with Penny and Flora Blair," she said. "Waiting by the entrance to the arena."

"Where is Cinder?"

"Behind us. With her armor. Waiting with us all."

"And you were alone when you were waiting, weren't you?"

"We were. Nobody else was with us." Winter continued to keep her eyes shut, even though the memory of her waiting with Cinder was as clear as day. "We're walking onto the arena."

"How did you feel?"

Winter concentrated on the question, trying to remember how she felt. Suddenly, her body became warmer with each step she pictured herself taking. "Hot," she said. "It's like my blood is boiling."

Thrawn remembered what he heard from the droid, how Winter was stressed and angry at both her fights. He had no doubt the emotions were present in her fight. And given the nature of the Chill, he had an idea. "When did you feel cold, Winter?" he asked. "Was this when you were fighting?"

"...No," Winter replied. Her cheek suddenly became cold. "I was cold... when I was on the ground."

"When you were eliminated?"

"When I regained consciousness. The metal of the arena, I'm on it."

"How else did you feel cold?"

"Just on my face." Winter suddenly felt cold all over her body. "But then... it traveled. It moved up my body."

"So it started at your legs," Thrawn noted. "Did your legs feel cold along with your face?"

Winter began to remember the exact details of the cold. "...No," she answered. "It started... at my chest. And worked its way up and down."

"Do you feel the urge to attack?"

"Yes. I was so... angry. Angry enough to..." Winter opened her eyes. "Admiral, I don't think there's anything at that part to help you."

The Admiral hummed as he backed away from Winter. "Remember further back," he ordered. "Did you see anything unordinary? A dark shape perhaps?"

"Should I have seen one?"

"Indeed. Although light cannot harm a Chill, one would think its presence would be quite noticeable. And if I recall, there were enough spotlights over the arena to extinguish any shadow."

Winter nodded as she closed her eyes and thought back to that night. "All I remember is the light you mentioned," she said. "All I saw were Penny and Cinder when I was on the ground-"

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Winter felt her pocket shaking and a soft noise coming from it. She quickly reached inside and took out her Scroll. "The airship is ready," she said.

"You have my leave to go," said Thrawn. Winter stood up and began to walk out. "Thank you for your services tonight, Winter. I hope you decide to provide your services to Atlas once more."

"..."

The Admiral couldn't see it, but Winter had just smiled for the first time all day. Prior to her discovery about the Chill, she believed that Thrawn's approval and attention got her in trouble in the first place. Now that idea had been proven false and she continued to be seen in a positive light in his eyes. This and the revival of her friendship with Cinder had just given her enough positivity to make Winter feel invulnerable against the Chill. And she was determined to keep it that way.

As he watched the cadet leave, Admiral Thrawn returned to his desk in careful contemplation. The cognitive interview yielded results as he expected, even though they raised more questions than answers. Winter's testimony and the video footage from the match seemed to confirm that the Chill was nowhere to be seen. And yet, its presence was undeniable, given what Ironwood told her.

So all the Grand Admiral could do was sit back and think. Think back on how Winter said the Chill took hold of her when she was on the ground regaining consciousness. With this information, Thrawn decided to watch the video one more time to see if there was anything he may have missed. He took out his Scroll and examined the footage of Winter on the ground. He then saw Flora Blair rise over her and the tie between Cinder and Penny being declared. That was when Winter attacked both Cinder and Flora.

"Hmm..."

Thrawn knew he missed something once again, so he played the video back. Once again, he saw Winter begin to gain consciousness. And once again, all four students moved as they did. He played the video again, which yielded the same result. He did it again, and saw the same thing again. One would think the Admiral was watching the video with an obsession, that he couldn't help himself but find clues that just weren't there.

But Thrawn wasn't gaining an obsession. He was gaining an idea. One he couldn't have gained without Winter.

Thrawn quickly closed the video and made a videocall. "Captain Pellaeon, has Cadet Schnee's ship left?"

"I just granted them permission, sir," said the brown haired man. "They're leaving as we speak."

"Excellent. As soon as they are out of radar, put all stations on high alert, including our ground teams."

"Admiral?"

"There is a traitor in our midst."

---

When Ironwood had reached the Colosseum, he learned that the plan seemed to be going smoothly. While Cinder, Glynda, and the Mandalorian were looking for the Chill, Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck were keeping the peace by announcing the final contestants of the Vytal Festival Tournament. They also displayed videos of their previous fights on every screen in the Colosseum, given the fact they had no idea how long it would take to find the Chill.

While that was happening, Glynda and Ironwood were keeping a close eye on the immediate arena, should the Chill reveal itself once more. Cinder and Djarin were beneath the arena itself, looking to see where and how the Chill could have travelled upwards to possess Winter. Djarin was using his thermal vision to search the area right where Winter should have been standing, careful to avoid the various wires and machines.

"See anything?" Cinder asked calmly.

"Nothing," the Mandalorian replied as he moved back from the specific spot. "The temperature here looks normal, no signs of freezing cold." He turned back to Cinder. "Did you call Ironwood?"

"I did. He and Professor Goodwitch don't see anything." Cinder looked back up at the arena floor. "Lily said the Chill attacked her at Beacon, in the practice arena. And then it attacked Winter here. Now that I think about it, does it seem likely it'll strike twice in the same spot?"

"Beacon is deserted for the most part. And Ozpin said the updated security system will make it easier to spot the Chill if it does go back. Right now, our best bet is Amity." Djarin turned around and walked away from the arena floor to search for any other places where the Chill could have entered. His next idea was to search each spot where different environments would be spawned.

Cinder followed him while looking back at the spot, just in case. "Listen, I know I shouldn't bring it up, but... do you think she's involved in any of this?" she asked. "A Grimm, the Saxons... it doesn't really feel like a coincidence."

"...Anything's possible," Djarin replied. "And based on what I learned from Dr. Polendina, people can't control Grimm."

"Dr. Polendina?"

Djarin turned around. "He once tried to control a pack of Beowolves, to make them stay away from cities and Kingdoms. I even rode a Beowolf to help him with it."

"Wait, really?" Cinder stopped walking as she pictured the Mandalorian riding a Beowolf of all things. "When was this?"

"The first day we met, actually. When you stowed away on my ship."

Cinder laughed at the memory. "Oh, yeah," she said. "You must've had fun with it."

"Not really. I fell off it a few times."

"It beats being stuck up in a tree because a Beowolf's at the bottom." Cinder and Djarin shared a laugh at the idea, given that was how Cinder encountered Grimm when she left the first Razor Crest. When the laughter stopped, Cinder asked a question. "A lotta things were different back then, huh?"

"No doubt about it," the Mandalorian replied as he started walking again. "I was just a bounty hunter, and you had started training with me and your powers. And I thought things couldn't get any bigger."

"Same here." Cinder frowned as she slightly turned her head, reflecting on her time as a child. "Do you ever miss it? How things were back then?"

Djarin looked back to Cinder once again, but made sure not to turn off his thermal vision. "You mean fighting off insurrectionists and bounty hunters? Right, that was the time of my life right there."

Cinder could detect the sarcasm easily. "No, not anything like that. I mean, sure it wasn't perfect. But... I don't know, things just seemed... simpler." Cinder's memories before coming to Beacon came with ease. "Travelling across the world, making friends here and there, getting stronger every day. Things just... have been getting out of hand lately."

"Change is a constant part of life, Cinder," the Mandalorian reminded her. "I mean, yes, I wish things could be easier. I have to admit... I miss Nevarro sometimes, even though I find the time to visit. I don't hunt bounties as much as I used to, and I wish I was doing that instead of hunting a Grimm that could possess me at any moment." Cinder quickly looked over her shoulder out of fear since she almost forgot the reason she was beneath Amity in the first place. "My point is that time changed for us. And we changed too, look at how far you and I made it. We're not the same people we used to be."

"Is it bad that I wish I was?" Cinder asked.

"Of course. You were the most troubled kid I ever met."

Cinder quickly looked back at the Mandalorian. "Hey!"

Djarin suddenly chuckled. "I'm kidding."

"..."

Djarin made the joke to try and lighten the mood Cinder was in, but he could see that she wasn't in a mood to laugh. He knew that what she said earlier was still on her mind, and that she needed some kind of sign to show that she could overcome whatever was thrown in her way. Then, Djarin had an idea.

"Cinder, I know you're frustrated about everything," he said. "Even though I believe you're mistaken about some things, I see where you're coming from about the rest."

The young Maiden looked back to Djarin. "Mistaken?" she repeated. "About what?"

"We can talk about that later. But listen; there might be a way for you to do what you want to do, to undo so much hate. When we stop Salem, we'll travel the world, visit Mandalorians and the Kingdoms."

"To do what?"

"Introduce their rightful ruler." Djarin reached for his belt and took out a piece of metal. Suddenly, the black blade of the Darksaber appeared. "When I first met the Tenau Clan, they told me I was the Darksaber's guardian, and nothing more. They wanted me to protect it until the true Mand'alor was found. And if there's one person I think should have it..." Djarin deactivated the blade and held the hilt to Cinder. "It's the Fall Maiden."

Cinder silently gasped as she looked down at the metal. "You're... giving me the Darksaber?" she asked. "But why?"

"I never met a Mandalorian like you, Cinder. Ever since you learned the truth about your powers, you saw the bigger picture. You've been living by the Way of the Mandalore ever since I showed it to you... and then you started to learn the Way of the Maiden. It's time the Mandalorians learn that way too." Djarin held the Darksaber out further. "And they'll need a proper teacher."

"..."

Cinder was speechless by the gesture, along with the Mandalorian's words. She couldn't deny what he said, how she tried to look at the bigger picture as a Maiden. Even though her desire to live for the Mandalorians and the world as a whole had led to an uncertain crossroads, she wasn't in the mood to give up. She then realized that there was another way things were different from her past; now she was surrounded by people who cared about her, who wanted what was best for her. And now, Djarin believed the best thing for her was to be the Mand'alor once their war with Salem was over.

So Cinder slowly took the sword and activated it, raising the black blade above her head.

"It's... beautiful," she said with a smile. "A little heavy, but still." Cinder lowered the sword and looked back at Djarin. "You really think I can do this?"

"I know you can," Djarin confirmed. "And if you think I'll be with you every step of the way, you're absolutely right."

Cinder smiled and turned off the Darksaber. "If that's the case... don't think I'll go easy on you to claim this."

Djarin chuckled and rubbed Cinder's head. "Nor you me," he jokingly replied.

"..."

After a brief moment of silence, the Mandalorians remembered why they were at Amity in the first place. "It looks like the Chill's not down here," said Djarin. "Now would have been the perfect time to strike."

"Yeah," Cinder agreed. "Maybe one of us should held back up top and see if it's there."

Djarin looked at the clock on his gauntlet. "The crowd's going to start asking questions soon. Ironwood has to commence the match sometime."

"I kinda hate to think about it, but..." Cinder let out a heavy sigh when she presented her idea. "Maybe it won't attack until the match actually starts."

The Mandalorian nodded. "I was thinking the same thing." He then looked upwards. "One of us can go up top like you said, but we could use an eye in the sky too. Someone like... Qrow."

Cinder looked up as well, understanding what Djarin was getting at. "Yeah, he could reach a place higher than us," she said. "But where is he?"

"In Vale." Djarin looked back to Cinder. "Maybe you should get back upstairs, I'll go get Qrow."

"Okay. Hurry back."

---

Using his Semblance, Djarin found himself where he separated from Qrow. The people around him moved aside with a gasp at the Mandalorian's immediate appearance and continued to stare at him as he made his way to an apartment complex. Djarin was used to stares like these, which was why he was able to focus on the task at hand.

"Hey, buckethead!"

Djarin turned around to see a man wearing a black suit staring at him. "Weren't you that girl's dad?" he asked. "The one who got hurt at Amity?"

"She's my daughter, yes," Djarin confirmed.

The man suddenly chuckled. "Guess that armor of hers really worked out, huh?" Two men who had stopped and watched the altercation begin were nodding in agreement. "Maybe that should teach the two of you from trying to get your way."

"She didn't do anything wrong," the Mandalorian confirmed.

"Yeah, and I'm the King of Vale!"

"..."

Djarin rarely met anyone who had the courage to defy the Mandalorians to their faces, especially out in the open. As much as he wanted to teach the man a lesson for insulting him and Cinder, Djarin knew he had no business with the man. He simply walked inside the apartment and ignored the profanity the man was saying behind his back. He silently began to think back on what Cinder had said back in her room, realizing that she was definitely on to something. And he had definitely made the right choice by giving her the Darksaber. But he put these thoughts aside as he climbed the stairs and told himself why he was back in Vale; to find Qrow.

He had a feeling the long time since their separation had yielded good results. As he walked up the stairs, Djarin imagined what answers Qrow had gotten out of 'Sandie Collins'. Mainly, why she decided to involve herself in Cinder's life, since she apparently had no relation with her to begin with. And if Qrow wasn't able to get any answers, the Mandalorian would be happy to aid him. Self-restraint would be crucial in this case, given what people like the boastful man outside usually said.

However, Djarin began to err on the side of caution when he began to smell something.

"Is that... smoke?"

Djarin moved down the hallway he was standing in and came across both his destination and the source of the smell; room 2A had smoke coming out from below its door.

"Qrow!" Djarin screamed as he ran up to the door and banged on it. "Qrow, are you in there?!"

"..."

The lack of an answer sent Djarin into action. Thinking quickly, he shot his gauntlet's wire at a fire alarm on the wall. He then pulled the wire back, successfully activating the alarm for everyone to hear. He then kicked the door off its hinges, revealing a fire that had engulfed the majority of the apartment. Djarin ran inside and activated his Aura in case the flames got too close to the exposed parts of his armor. His helmet was making breathing simple as he searched the room for Qrow.

After a minute of searching the main parlor, Djarin found an unconscious Qrow in the bedroom and close to a growing flame. When he was sure nobody else was in the room, Djarin quickly grabbed Qrow and used his Semblance to take him outside the building. Multiple people were evacuating, so Djarin took Qrow into an alley and out of their way. Quickly putting two fingers on Qrow's neck, Djarin detected that his friend was still alive and breathing.

"Qrow, wake up!" the Mandalorian shouted.

"..."

Seeing that simply yelling at Qrow would get nowhere, Djarin took a more drastic step by slapping Qrow in the face.

*SMACK*

"Gah!" Qrow shouted as he came off the ground. "Huh? Wha?" He was trying to figure out what was going on, but he seemed too flustered to have a single coherent thought. "What's going on?" he groggily asked. "Why am I out here?"

"You tell me," Djarin replied. "I just pulled you out of a burning building."

"Burning?" Qrow suddenly felt the smell of smoke enter his nostrils, which surprisingly gave the Huntsman a wake-up call. With the Mandalorian's help, Qrow got off the ground and ran to the front of the building, where the smoke and fire was more evident. "Mando, what the hell happened?!"

"How should I know?! You came here alone, and I found you unconscious!" A bad thought came its way into Djarin's mind. "Qrow, how much did you have to drink before-?"

"No, no, I didn't do this!" Qrow argued. He then reached into his shirt and tried to pull out an empty flask, hoping this would prove his innocence. "I haven't had a drink in... Wait a minute." He reached deeper into his pocket. "Where's my flask?"

"..."

Qrow decided to check his other pocket, but this only led him to another question. "Wait, where's my wallet? And my Scroll?!" He then reached behind his back and saw yet another possession of his was missing. "My weapon's gone!"

Djarin was looking at Qrow while he was attempting to find his things, but something behind the Huntsman caught the Mandalorian's eye. "Qrow... is that it?" he asked as he pointed deeper in the alley.

Qrow turned around to see Harbinger, the weapon he crafted himself, on the ground behind him. Qrow walked over and quickly picked it up. "Did you bring my weapon out here?" he asked the Mandalorian.

"No, but I have an idea where it came from." Djarin pointed overhead to a smoking window. "That must be 2A."

Qrow was able to remember why he was here in the first place. "That woman, Sandie... she left me there to die!" he screamed as he turned back to the Mandalorian. "My wallet has about a hundred Lien in it, and my Scroll has my Huntsman license!"

"She must have taken the Scroll and Harbinger to make sure nobody knew who you were," Djarin surmised. "She might use the money for transport out of Vale."

The sounds of sirens caught the attention of both men, who turned to see the fire department and the police had arrived. Qrow and Djarin walked over to the police to explain what happened and who was responsible.

"We'll put out an APB on Sandie Collins," a man in a white dress shirt and black tie promised. "The fire team should find signs of arson like you said." He looked up to see a man dressed like him talking to another man with blonde hair and a gray T-shirt. "My partner's with the landlord, he should be able to help you find this girl."

Qrow and Djarin walked over to the other police officer and the landlord. The officer's partner gestured for him to come over, which he did while shooting an uncertain glare at the Mandalorian. But Djarin ignored it and looked back to Qrow. "Hey buddy," Qrow said to the landlord. "Your tenant Sandie was the one who blew up your place. Know anywhere else she might go?"

"Who?" the landlord asked in confusion.

"Sandie Collins," Djarin replied. "She lived in room 2A."

The landlord's confusion didn't leave him, but he began to have some kind of understanding as to what they meant. "Sandie? You mean Honey?"

Djarin and Qrow looked back at each other before asking the landlord the same question. "Honey?"

"Yeah, Honey Wine," the landlord replied. "She's the one who moved in there."

"Moved in?" Djarin asked. "When was this?"

"A little over a week ago. She moved here from Mistral, said she was in trouble with some gang." He then looked down and snapped his fingers, trying to remember something else. "Spider! Yeah, that gang Spider!"

"I've heard of them," said Qrow. "And you didn't say anything?"

"She and I are friends, and she helped me out once or twice," the landlord answered calmly. "When asked for a place to live, I couldn't say 'no' after all she did for me. Are you sure she's the one who did this?"

"Positive. Do you know where she is now? Where she's most likely to go?"

"No, she rarely left the apartment." The landlord cupped his hands on his ears and looked down. "Oh, God. Honey destroyed my place, why?"

Djarin knew she was covering her tracks, and he had a feeling the landlord knew more about her. All he needed were the right questions. "Was she trying to con Spider out of something?" he asked. "Money, maybe?"

"Con?" the landlord asked.

"Honey Wine is a con-artist," Djarin reiterated. "She's been conning my daughter ever since they met, and I need to know why. Now, did Honey try to steal money from Spider?"

The questions and presence of the Mandalorian were making the landlord uneasy. Nevertheless, he answered the questions to the best of his ability. "No, not that I know of. I mean, her Semblance got her in trouble a few times, but-"

"Wait, Semblance?" Qrow asked. "What do you mean? What does her Semblance do?"

"She sings," the landlord quickly answered. "Her singing makes people feel good and lose touch with their surroundings. She told me she used it to pickpocket people or make them susceptible to the commands of anyone else in the room with her."

Before Djarin could ask another question, Qrow took his arm and gestured to the side. The duo then walked away from the landlord, but not before telling him to go to the police and tell them about Honey Wine. Once they were alone, Qrow whispered to Djarin. "I remember it now," he said. "She sang a high note as soon as I went in the room. Next minute, you were with me."

"But why Cinder?" Djarin asked. "If she wanted money, Honey Wine should have come after me. Going after Cinder doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe Cinder was a means to an end." Qrow quietly gasped as another terrible idea came to mind. "Or maybe she doesn't want money. Do you think they want something from you? The two of you?"

"Like the Fall Maiden?"

"Maybe. Or anything about the Fall Maiden. Or Ozpin. Or anything like that."

"Did Honey say anything else to you?"

"Only that-" The truth dawned on Qrow and sent the fear of the Gods in him. "That she was expecting you."

"Me?" Djarin asked. "This was a trap for me?"

"Looks that way," Qrow replied as he turned back to the building. "So who in their right mind would try to kill a Mandalorian?"

"..."

Djarin teleported himself back to the police and the landlord and began to talk to them while showing a picture on his gauntlet. Qrow couldn't hear what they were saying, so he walked back towards them. But he stopped in his tracks when Djarin grabbed the landlord and began to scream and violently shake him.

"Hey, let him go!" the first officer said as he pushed on the Mandalorian and reached for the gun at his belt. "Try that again and I'll take you in for assault!"

Djarin ignored the threat and ran over to Qrow. "We need to get to Amity!" he said as he grabbed the Huntsman's shoulder.

*BAM*

Instead of an apartment with flashing lights everywhere, Qrow and the Mandalorian found themselves at a bus stop of all places. They were still in the city, which seemed to cause a high amount of distress for Djarin.

"Dammit!" he screamed as he looked at his gauntlet. The Mandalorian's damaged Aura had just run out and was currently recharging, leaving him with no choice but to run north.

"Mando, wait!" Qrow screamed as he chased after Djarin. "Where are you going?! What's going on?!"

"Cinder's in danger!"

---

If there was ever a time when Cinder was forced to concentrate on something important, that time was completely irrelevant to the present situation she was in. The singles round of the Vytal Festival was about to begin, and the plan to observe any attempt by the Chill was about to commence. She had her father's rifle and the two teachers that accompanied her to Amity were also watching the arena like a hawk.

But her father and Qrow were nowhere to be seen. Cinder considered the idea of calling either of them to ask where they were, but she knew watching the arena was more important. And given that the randomization process for the first two fighters had just started, their plan to watch for the Chill to strike had just started.

But as luck would have it, the first combatant had no chance of being possessed; the first combatant was Penny.

Cinder felt somewhat relieved that the Chill's next target would most likely be Penny's opponent, so she would need to focus on them. And before he left, Djarin had given Cinder his Amban rifle. With the weapon and her Maiden powers, Cinder felt somewhat confident that she and her present allies would be able to catch the Chill. In order to do that, Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood were sitting close to the arena so they could act when the time called for it. Cinder was currently standing alone by the highest seats, so she decided to move down with the two teachers.

*WHOOSH*

A sudden cold spot on the back of her neck caused Cinder to rub it as she made her way to the arena. But then she remembered the last time she felt a chill like that, which caused her to turn around and rip the Amban rifle off her back. She looked for any sign of movement or unnatural darkness, and found it by a red door with a hammer and wrench on it. Cinder quickly opened the door and saw a black shape that resembled a human. There was no doubt about it; Cinder had found the Chill.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

The sound of Cinder's Scroll going off caused both Cinder and the Chill to look at the source of the noise. Cinder looked up to see the Grimm was staring at her, so she quickly aimed the rifle and fired.

*BANG*

Unfortunately, the shot missed the Grimm and hit a box instead. When the Chill witnessed the disintegration of the box, it made a cowardly retreat and flew further down the hallway.

"No!" Cinder cried as she gave chase. After she reloaded the rifle, she fumbled through her pocket to take out her Scroll. She saw that it was a call from the Mandalorian, one that she answered as fast as she could. "Dad, I found the Chill! Tell Ironwood it's-!"

*BAM*

Answering the call made Cinder oblivious to a toolbox that was clumsily thrown on the ground by someone who had left the maintenance area a while ago. This mistake had left Cinder to trip on the box and drop both the rifle and her Scroll. The fall didn't hurt the young girl, but it had distracted her from pursuing the Chill. Cinder couldn't allow this to happen, so she picked up the rifle with haste and continued down the hall, leaving her Scroll behind.

The dark shape was still visible, but it had gained a vast distance from Cinder. And with enough time, it could reach an exit before Cinder could catch up to it. But rather than let this happen, Cinder did her best to catch up to the Grimm and shoot it. Unfortunately, Cinder was having a hard time running and aiming at the Chill. She fired another shot, but it hit the wall instead of the Grimm.

When it crossed a corner, Cinder realized her attempts to kill the Chill were going nowhere fast. She had a good feeling that she was alone, given that nobody had come to investigate the sounds of gunfire. So when she realized what had to be done in order to protect everyone from this Grimm, Cinder didn't hesitate to let fire come to her eyes and fire to spawn at her heels and hands. She slightly jumped into the air and then flew like a bullet out of a gun towards the Chill. The speed was miraculous, and just what Cinder needed to finally catch up to the Grimm. When she did, Cinder focused her powers on her feet, causing her to leap at a tremendous height above the Grimm, where she turned around and reloaded the Amban rifle once again. When she landed in front of it, Cinder watched the Grimm stop moving as she pointed the barrel at it.

*BANG*

After two failed attempts, the third shot proved to be the charm Cinder was hoping for. The blast from her father's shot struck the Chill in its chest, causing the monster to disintegrate with a loud shriek. In just one moment, it had disappeared into nothing but ash.

Cinder sighed in relief as she let her powers disappear. "Thank... the Gods," she said as she took heavy breaths. When she had finally caught her breath, Cinder reached into her pocket and reached for her Scroll. When she felt nothing, the Fall Maiden silently cursed herself as she remembered that she chose to leave her Scroll behind.

If only she hadn't tripped and dropped it.

When she cursed herself for doing so, Cinder felt a twinge of fear when she realized she may have dropped something else. But when she reached for her waist and felt a piece of metal hanging on the edge, the young girl sighed in relief as she took the metal off her belt and walked down the hall. "Still here," she said as she looked upon the Darksaber.

As she continued her journey, Cinder couldn't help but turn on the Darksaber and marvel at the beauty of the dark blade. The hilt still felt heavy, but Cinder dismissed the weight as a need to practice with it in the future. Cinder planned on taking her father's offer of being the Mand'alor after they dealt with Salem. She had all sorts of ideas on how to make them not only a religion, but a race worthy of respect from everyone on Remnant.

"The Way of the Maiden," she thought to herself as she stared at the black blade. "That's a great idea. I never even thought of something like that. Maybe I can meet the other Maidens too, like Fria. See what else I can teach the Mandalorians. Maybe I can even rebuild Mandalore! Except... maybe not on Mandalore. The Faunus of Menagerie might not like that. But if we make it somewhere else, maybe Mandalorians can participate in the Vytal Festival!" Cinder sighed as she continued to daydream. "I really gotta thank Dad when-"

*THOOM*

Cinder's dreams were put on hold when the hallway became engulfed in darkness.

"Huh?"

This was the only thought Cinder could have when the light disappeared. The Darksaber's white edges provided a small glimmer of light, but it wasn't enough for Cinder to see which way she was going. So she deactivated the blade and lifted her hand in the air. Her Maiden powers allowed her to create a small fire in her palm, which she used to light her way. "Hello?" she called out as she walked through the dark hallway. "Someone here?"

"..."

"Nothing," Cinder thought as she held out her hand further. Her eyes weren't glowing, so she decided to explain the fire as an evolved Semblance if someone came to her from the darkness. But she was more concerned as to what caused the lights to go out in the first place. "Sounded like a breaker tripped or something. Hope it wasn't me." She continued to go through the halls, but then Cinder realized that there was nothing around her that looked familiar. There was a staircase behind her leading downwards, but it wasn't what Cinder was looking for. The teenager realized that she may have gotten lost when she was chasing the Chill, which didn't bode well for her future.

Remembering that her Scroll was on, Cinder realized that if she was close to it, the light would be bright enough to shine in the darkness. So she put down her hand and let the fire die in an attempt to see her Scroll.

"More darkness," she thought to herself when no light filled her surroundings. "I just had to leave it behind, huh? Now I can't even-"

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

"Ha, ha, ha!"

Cinder's heart skipped a beat when she heard an unfamiliar buzzing and soft laughter right in front of her. The sounds caused Cinder to quickly move her hand and ask a single question. "Hey, what the-?"

As soon as the flame lit her immediate surroundings, a smiling face moved into Cinder's personal space and screamed. "Raah!"

"Aaugh!" Cinder screamed in fear as she backed away from the face. In doing so, Cinder lost her footing and fell down the flight of stairs she was standing in front of. Her body hit each metal step that went downward, and her head took a bad hit when she finally reached the end. Her arms, legs, and torso were all bruised in different places, but blood was flowing from her head to the metal floor she was currently laying on. The pain in her head was so intense, she couldn't muster the focus needed to activate her Aura and heal the wound.

After a few moments, Cinder was able to sit upright and begin to activate her Aura. But then, she heard the buzzing sound once again, causing her to look up the stairs again. Before she could make another fire, Cinder heard a familiar voice followed by giggling.

"What's the matter, Cindy? Did I scare you?"

Cinder looked up at the source of the voice, where she heard footsteps walking down the stairs. A soft light from a Scroll filled her surroundings and finally let her see the figure more clearly. It was another girl, a couple of years older than her, in a black dress that reached the ground. A black hood was covering a majority of her red hair, but her smiling face was as clear as day for Cinder.

"Flo... Flora?" Cinder groggily asked. Her head was still pounding, but Cinder's vision wasn't affected. She could see that the girl in front of her was indeed Flora Blair, alive and well. "But... you were... you were hurt."

Flora's smile disappeared. "Hurt?" she asked as she titled her head and narrowed her eyes. She then moved it upright and smiled again. "Oh, right! You mean... like this?!"

*SWISH*

"AAAAHHH!"

Cinder screamed like a banshee when she felt a new kind of pain. And the light from her teammate's Scroll was shining down to show that Flora's sickle was sticking in her leg. And Flora simply leaned forward and smelled the air as she closed her eyes. "Mmmm!" she moaned as she opened her eyes. "Young-blood!"

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Along with a sickle in her leg, Cinder found herself surrounded by flying insects. They began to bite into her flesh without mercy, leaving Cinder to scream again and unable to think straight.

"Careful, girls!" Flora said to the flies as she stopped another round of laughter. "She's still the Maiden, after all!"

The biting stopped as quickly as it began. This gave Cinder a chance to look up at Flora and the multiple insects, which she was able to recognize as Botflies. She was beyond surprised from the attack to her leg and the second Grimm attack, but Cinder could only muster the strength to ask one question. "Wha... What did you say?" she asked.

"Don't worry 'bout that," Flora said as she watched the flies move. "Don't you wanna say 'Hi' to your friends, instead?"

The dark room began to fill with laughter once again, but it wasn't Flora's. Suddenly, the numerous Botflies began to fly in two large packs. The packs began to take forms that were the same size as Flora. One form quickly sprouted an arm that held another sickle and the second sprouted a face that was identical to Flora's. Soon enough, the forms revealed themselves to be feminine and wearing the same dress as Flora. And their familiar faces looked down on Cinder with sadistic glee.

"Hi, Cinder!" said Merri, who kept her distance from Cinder's hands.

"Surprise!" said Fauna, who couldn't resist the urge to take a closer look at the flabbergasted expression on her leader's face.

"Wha-Wha-What the hell?" Cinder stuttered. The terrifying miracle she had just witnessed raised even more questions, but it had left one thing apparently certain. "You-You're Grimm!"

"Ding-ding!" Fauna said without losing her smile. She then rubbed her hand on a veil behind her, letting Botflies form and escape from it. "Oh, Cinder. You have no idea how good it feels to let myself loose like this!" She then moved her hand down to Cinder's face, where it transformed into more flies. "Want another close look?"

"Get away!" Cinder lifted her hand and let a flame jet escape from her palm. Fauna quickly backed away from the fire and Flora pulled on her sickle, causing Cinder to scream again and stop her attack.

Merri quickly kneeled down and put her sickle against Cinder's throat. "Try that again, and I'll skin you alive," she whispered into Cinder's ear. "And then you'll be tonight's main dish." She then bit the girl's ear lobe, causing blood to spill into her mouth. "Mmm, you taste much better than I thought you would."

Cinder moved her head away from Merri. "Wh-What are you doing?!" she screamed. "What are all of you doing?!"

"Right now, I'm trying to fix myself, you bitch!" Fauna screamed as she looked at her burnt arm. A green glow began to form around the limb, but not before a few dead Botflies fell to the ground. Once the glow disappeared, Fauna sighed in relief. "That's better."

Cinder was once again at a loss of words. She knew all of the Grimm from her studies at Beacon. They were all different in shape and size, but they all had one thing in common; Grimm were soulless monsters. It was this lack of a soul that prevented any Grimm from possessing an Aura, and yet Fauna had just used one to heal her burnt arm.

"You'll find out later," said Merri, who kicked the Amban rifle away. "Right now, you won't be needing that." Her eyes then fell on a particular piece of metal on Cinder's belt. "Or that." She grabbed the Darksaber and looked it over.

"Give that back!" Cinder screamed as she reached for the sword. But Flora's sickle moved even deeper into Cinder's leg, preventing her from doing anything but feel more pain. The theft of something she found to be a prized possession broke Cinder's heart enough to realize that the people in front of her were nothing but her enemies. "Why are you doing this?" The heartbreak caused her to shed a tear. "I... I thought-"

"You thought exactly what we needed you to think," Merri replied. "And look where it got us; exactly what we wanted!" The sisters shared a brief laugh before Flora seemed to levitate in the air.

"Come on, Merri!" she whined. "I'm hungry! And our leader is starting to look tasty!"

Merri looked back to Flora. "Then lead the way, sister." The redhead happily obliged and began to fly deeper into the darkness, dragging Cinder with her. Merri and Fauna also floated off the ground as their legs turned into Botflies. They followed their sister as their laughter drowned out one last defiant scream from Cinder.

"Nooooooo!"

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Author's notes: hey everyone! So sorry this chapter took a long time, things just got really busy really quickly. But I was able to squeeze in enough time to get this finished. Thanks for all the comments, I really enjoyed what you all said. And to the new favorites and followers, welcome to The Way of the Maiden.

School's almost finished for me, it should be over in another month. When that happens, I should be back on track with more chapters. But thank you all for your patience and support, it really means a lot. And I was really surprised by all the Emerald theories here, I honestly wasn't expecting it all. So I just want to say that I don't plan on using Emerald just yet, I'm trying to be a little more original rather than follow the exact plot of RWBY. That being said, I hope you're enjoying what you're reading.

To Rider126, nope, no Emerald here. Hope you like what I had in mind. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

To The Avenging Titan, sorry about the flashbacks. I can't say too much, but you're not too far off in your theories. Again, Emerald isn't involved just yet, but you were right about Winter and Thrawn. And I too was sad about Tom Veitch, along with the other people who sadly passed away recently. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

To RagingLizard, glad to hear I was able to ease the pain. Sorry if this chapter took too long, though. I'm glad you like what I'm doing for Cinder, I'm happy I was able to fill that hole in your heart you mentioned. I really appreciate you saying all of that, I've been wondering how well I've been writing Cinder. Glad to hear you liked Book of Boba, and you'll see more of Boba here later. Thanks for reading and reviewing, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To Nesthor5000, I hadn't really thought about that, but now I see a Dumbledore/McGonagall thing with Ozpin and Glynda. And you're right, Ozpin has a lot of flaws going on with him. His heart is in the right place, but his head clearly isn't in my opinion. I just hope things change sooner or later in RWBY. Thanks for reading and reviewing, I hope you're enjoying the story.

To Servos New Head, you have a really good moral for the last chapter. I'm glad you liked what else I wrote, and I see where you're coming from with the criticism, thanks for pointing it out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading and reviewing. And thanks for mentioning Tom Veitch too, RIP.

To GojiraFan455516, hope I answered some questions here. Then again... I may have left some more questions here. But you'll get answers soon, thanks for reading and reviewing.

To 54godamora, hope I explained everything. Thanks for reading and reviewing, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To NacNak, glad you liked the chapter! Hope you enjoyed this one too, thanks for reading and reviewing.

To CT7567Rules, glad you were able to see something else was going on. And you got the idea of a rat really good, hats off to you. I also thought it was a shame about Tom Veitch. If you're interested in reading his work, he's mostly known for the comic Dark Empire. It's a little controversial on account of a resurrected Palpatine, but you'll like it when you look past the Emperor. I lien your idea about the Tigershark, I could try something like that. And I think you'll like what I have planned for Neo and Sienna in the future. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

All in all, that's all I have to say right now. I'll still be working on this story, along with a second one I'm co-writing with The Avenging Titan. Please leave your thoughts in the comments, I'll see you next time!