DISCLAIMER: RWBY belongs to Viz Media and Star Wars belongs to Disney (Unfortunately). The scenario and original characters are mine.

Chapter I

A Slave's Fate

Onderon System, Colonies

The Venator-Class Star Destroyer, Dominator, 63 Years After the Great War (17 BBY)

Khooh Puuhr

Darth Vader peered out into the space beyond the front viewport of the Dominator, his arms folded across his chest. The sound of his breathing deafened him to the sounds of the bridge crew. As he stared into the void outside, he pondered how much his life had changed in so short a time. In the span of two years, he had been confined to this damned suit and had found an apprentice. He bitterly wondered what else was going to come his way.

"Lord Vader?" a voice croaked after what seemed to be an eternity of nothing.

The Sith Lord did not reply immediately. He allowed the worm behind him to stew in his fear for a time. That fear kept them in line. Kept them from doing anything to inconvenience him. When he felt the officer was sufficiently afraid, he turned to face the man.

"You have something to report, Lieutenant?" Vader questioned, his voice booming as per usual.

"We're receiving a transmission, milord. It's from the Emperor," stuttered the pale-faced Lieutenant, his eyes scanning the side of Vader's face plate frantically; his eyes constantly wavering.

"Very well. I will take it in my quarters."

"Yes, milord."

Vader turned then, his arms lowering to his sides and cape billowing out behind him, his lightsaber hitting his thigh as he walked. He stalked toward the elevator. The entrance of it was guarded by two members of his personal legion, the 501st. The two Clone Troopers stiffened smartly as he approached. Their DC-15S carbines hit their chest plates simultaneously, and Vader couldn't help but let a small ghost of a smile appear beneath his helmet for the briefest of moments.

The Clones reminded him of better times. The days of fighting alongside two of the best people he'd known.

As the elevator began to descend, he found his thoughts drifting to Ahsoka and Rex, as they so often did. He had read the reports, of course. Both had supposedly died on some distant moon when their Venator, the Tribunal, had crashed during Order Sixty-Six. Part of him didn't believe it fully. He- Skywalker had trained the girl well, and Rex was simply too tough to be killed in something as minor as a Venator crash.

He still had difficulty separating himself from his former life. Despite what the Dark Lord desperately believed was true, Anakin Skywalker wasn't fully dead. Not yet, at any rate. Perhaps his memory would fade even further with time. As the elevator doors opened on his personal deck, he gazed around at the members of the 501st lined along the walls. The Clones did much the same as the two elevator guards upstairs.

As he approached his door, he stopped next to one Clone. The Clone in particular wore a kama and Commander's Pauldron, and his helmet had a stylized arrow pointing down to his visor. CC-1119's, or as Vader and the rest of the 501st knew him, "Appo", armor hadn't changed much, even with the close call he'd had the first time the Empire invaded Kashyyyk, two years ago today.

"Commander."

"Milord?"

"I will be speaking with the Emperor. See to it that I'm not disturbed."

"Of course, milord."

Vader nodded to the man, then entered his quarters. He headed directly to the holo-projector area, kneeling on the dais in front of it. The dais surrounded him with dim white lights, and he raised his head to look at his master.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

Darth Sidious gazed upon Vader with mild indifference for only a moment before he spoke, "There is a planet that I want you to investigate."

"A planet, master?"

"Indeed. It's presence in the Force is… strange. Can you feel it?"

Vader's eyebrows furrowed beneath his mask. He concentrated, Sidious allowing him to do so, sifting through the Force to find the anomaly within it. It did not take long.

"I feel it, master. What would you have me do?"

"Observe the planet. You and you alone are to land on them. You must be discreet, Lord Vader. Our Empire is still young, and we still have need of the Senate as we solidify our hold. I will inform you when it is time for us to act."

"As you wish, my master."

"Good. I look forward to your thoughts on the planet, my friend."

With that, the transmission ended. Vader scowled beneath his mask. 'My friend' indeed. Had it not been for him, things would never have spiraled out of control as they had. Padmé would be alive, his children would be alive, and he wouldn't be trapped in this damnable suit. If he hadn't been weakened by Kenobi, he would have killed the old Sith and taken his rightful place as Emperor!

That wasn't possible now. Perhaps in time he'd take his place and deal with his master, but for now the Dark Lord needed his master. Thus he stood from the holoprojector and walked to the door. With a wave of his hand, the door opened, and he stepped out. Despite what his master had said, Vader decided to prepare for any unforeseen complications.

"Milord?"

"Have your men ready to disembark the Dominator if I give the order, Commander."

"Yes milord."

The Dark Lord continued forward, stopping only to activate the elevator. He swiftly entered once the door opened. Vader's mind continued to work as he contemplated the Force anomaly that was the anomaly.

The bridge was just as busy as when he'd left. He breezed past the two Clones guarding the elevator, heading directly for the ship's Captain, Dallo.

"Milord?" Dallo, a small, portly man with beady eyes, asked nervously.

"I have been given a mission by the Emperor himself. You are to take me to the Jeyell system. I will take my shuttle from there."

"By yourself, milord? Surely-"

Vader didn't let the man finish, using the Force to grasp the Captain's neck. The man gurgled and coughed for several seconds before Vader spoke once more. "I will not be questioned by an insignificant officer like you. You will do as I say, or I will find someone better suited for the task."

"Y-yes milord!" the man squeaked as the Dark Lord relinquished his grip.

"Inform me when we have arrived."

"Of course, milord," the man said as Vader turned away, heading once more for his chambers. It was time to begin the Kashyyyk boy's daily training.

Vader wasn't satisfied with the boy's progress, but the boy was only partially to blame. Sidious wanted Vader to properly train the boy into being a Sith assassin, as he had dictated in his plan to root out and destroy the growing resistance movements around the galaxy. Vader didn't much see the point in it. He believed in dealing with the problem directly, rather than using a disposable pawn. After all, the pawns might not be quite as disposable as one would believe. Darth Maul was a perfect example of that.

It was times like this that made the Dark Lord question why he had saved the boy. Was it for his potential? Granted, he was quite strong in the Force, and under Vader's tutelage, he may be even stronger, but he could never match the Dark Lord or the Emperor. Was it some attempt at redeeming his most heinous sin? The boy was quite young of course, but he would make a good surrogate for the child Vader had lost. Was it something else entirely? The Dark Lord had no real answer.

He'd merely acted in the moment, slaughtering the members of his other personal legion, the 1st Legion. Had it been members of the 501st Legion with him that day, he could have ordered them to hold their fire. The 501st's loyalty was far more absolute. The 1st's, on the other hand, was loyal to the Emperor first. It would be impossible to be totally sure of their loyalty. Given time, he was sure he'd be able to recognize just who their loyalty was to, but not that day.

Those troopers died valiantly defending Darth Vader from the Jedi who had been in hiding on Kashyyyk. That was what the reports from that battle had said, and the Dark Lord had seen no reason to change them.

He entered the elevator once more, not saying a word.

Khooh Puuhr

Remnant System, Mid-Rim Territories Outskirts

The Glass Unicorn, Kingdom of Atlas

Cinder isn't entirely sure when she first feels… it. She cannot describe the feeling as she is sure it isn't some facet of her Aura and is definitely not a part of her semblance. She tried to focus on it when she wasn't working, and she still didn't quite understand it. That is, until tonight.

The two brats had come down to torment her again. They saw her sword and mocked her. Comments like "You think you can be a Huntress? Ha!", and similar were thrown at her until she finally couldn't take it anymore. She turns to yell at them, to scream, to let her rage out at the two girls, and as she turns, she instinctively raises her sword. It doesn't raise fully as it glides through the abdomen of the first girl. The other shrieks in horror, no doubt getting their whore of a mother's attention.

The screaming girl begins to run to the door as the first coughs up blood and falls to her knees. Cinder reaches a hand out to the screaming girl in an effort to stop her, and as she does, she feels something grasp the girl's throat. The girl is gurgling and choking as she is lifted up by Cinder. Cinder was stunned at this, and wondered what else she could do with this newfound power. She moved her arm to the right, and the girl moved right too. Cinder did the same with the left, and again, it was the same result. She moved her arm in multiple directions and each time the choking girl moved with Cinder's arm movements.

Cinder, in her curiosity, clenched her fist. There was an audible crack as the choking girl's neck broke. Cinder's eyes widened at just how fast the girl died from just a simple hand movement. When she heard the clattering of running heels, her surprise turned to pure rage. As the Madame came into view, her face went from rage to horror as she saw her two dead children. The horror remained for only a few precious moments before the rage returned. The Madame yanked out the controller for the Lightning Dust collar that Cinder wore. Cinder showed nothing as the Madame pressed the controller's button.

Cinder felt the shocks, but they had no effect on her. She reached a hand out to the Madame, intending to do the same to her as she had done to the screaming girl, only to be stunned once again as instead of the pulse from before, blue-white lightning shot out of her finger tips. The lightning lasted only a moment. It hit the Madame directly in her chest, and the older woman jerked and spasmed as the lightning courses through her. Cinder ripped the collar off as the Madame convulsed.

She walked towards the woman, who was shrieking now, spewing obscenities in between crying out in pain and wailing for her daughters. Cinder doesn't hesitate as she raises her sword and stabs down directly into the Madame's chest. She can hear more running just as she withdraws the sword. The runner reveals himself to be Rhodes, and for a single moment, Cinder smiles. Then her mind reveals to her what Rhodes thinks of what she's done, and that smile dies.

It is in that moment that Cinder realizes that Rhodes never really cared about her. He only cared about creating a new Huntress. The anger and hatred at him she feels in that moment overwhelms her. She raises her hand once again and looses a torrent of blue-white lightning on Rhodes. He had been reaching for his maces, his face determined, when the lightning hit him. It shatters his Aura in an instant.

He too convulses on the ground before she makes the same movement she had when the screaming girl had tried to run. He's lifted up into the air, choking and gasping, as Cinder slowly squeezed her fist. He's looking at her, pleading with his eyes for her to stop, but she won't. She knows who he really is now. He is a liar. She snarls like an animal as she begins jerking her arm left and right, causing him to smash into the walls of the storage room that had been her home for years at this point. The walls crumble as the impacts grow stronger and stronger. She finally stops when her arm is throbbing with pain from the jerking.

Rhodes was barely conscious now. He was covered in blood, and a few bones stuck out from his arms and legs. His jaw was broken, and an eye was hanging loosely from its socket. It is clear that he will die no matter what anyone might do. Cinder, however, isn't satisfied with that. In an act of mercy, she clenches her fist, breaking his neck. She glares at the corpse of the Huntsman when she heard gurgling sobs.

She turns back to where they are coming from and sees the girl with the slashed abdomen crawling towards the stairs leading up to the main lobby. Cinder stares down at the girl, wondering what she should do. As she does, she realizes this is her chance. Her freedom was just beyond the door. Thinking of nothing else, she sprinted out, leaving the sobbing girl behind.

She stumbles and trips onto the main floor of the hotel. She hears the guests laughing around her, and she wonders if they are laughing at her. She rises to her feet. She hears screams as an older woman points at her. She looks down and sees the blood stains on her white clothing. She wastes no time in rushing toward the doors, a pair of men chasing after her. She has to leave, has to escape! Just as she touches the door handle, a hand is on her arm roughly tugging on it to stop her.

She doesn't even bat an eye as she swings the sword toward the person trying to stop her. The sword cleanly passes through the person's arm. The shock and horror of the act stuns those around her as she slams the doors open and runs out into the night. More screams echo behind her, but she doesn't turn back to look.

The Madame, her brats, and the liar Rhodes are all dead. The shadow of the Glass Unicorn is growing smaller and smaller. Cinder is free now… but at what cost?

Jeyell System, Mid-Rim Territories

The Venator-Class Star Destroyer, Dominator

Khooh Puuhr

Vader watches as his black Eta-2 is being serviced. He wished he could use that ship for the mission, but alas, the mission was not a combat one. It was likely that that was why his master had given him this mission. Another test of his abilities. It infuriated him to no end. Tasks like this were demeaning to a Sith Lord. Instead, he was to use a Nu-Class Attack Shuttle that had been modified with a cloaking generator. It had been waiting in the system, alongside another Destroyer, the Relentless.

"Sir?"

Vader turned and looked at the Clone wearing a technician's jumpsuit.

"The shuttle is ready, milord. Shall I inform the Commander?"

"No. You and your men are dismissed, trooper."

"Yes, milord. You heard him boys, shift it!"

The Clones working on the shuttle left quickly and in good order, as the Dark Lord expected them to do. Vader marched up the steps, instrumentation panels and lights turning on as he entered. He headed directly to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's chair. He gave himself only a moment to familiarize himself with the panel before him. He reached up and powered the shuttle with a few button presses and flicking of switches. Clones and Human crewmen alike quickly moved into the shielded portions of the hangar, already knowing what was about to happen.

The hangar doors above slid to either side. Vader nudged the ship forwards and out of the Dominator before he felt around for the coordinates of the system. He found it easily and steered the ship in its direction. As soon as he was far enough away from the two Destroyers, he made the jump to lightspeed. In a flicker of pseudo-motion, his shuttle disappeared.

Khooh Puuhr

Remnant System, Mid-Rim Territories Outskirts

Mantle, Kingdom of Atlas

Cinder shivered as the cold air washed over her. She pushes through it as best she can, but still she falls to the ground. She hasn't eaten for a long time. As she blinks, she feels the ice encasing her eyelashes crinkle and crunch. She can really see anything at this point. She has been relying on her new abilities more and more to move around. She feels that she won't be able to survive much longer.

Cinder had started using her Semblance to light things on fire, so that she could bask in the warmth the fire gave off for at least a little while. Then the police caught onto it. They started investigating wherever random fires popped up. That forced her to stop doing that. She once tried using her Semblance to heat herself, but it was to no avail. She can't be affected by her own Semblance. She growls and stands up once more. She hadn't made it all the way down here to just die in the street, but… It's so cold. It's just so cold.

She pushes on. She will not be stopped by mere cold. She is free now. Her actions for that freedom have to mean something, dammit. She can't have gained her freedom only to die like a dog in the street. Cinder continues to walk. She finds a nearby alley to hide in, for at least a while.

If she's lucky, she can make a fire there. Homeless Atlesians made fires like that all the time in barrels. She'd just need to find something to burn first. As she entered the alleyway, she glanced around for any materials she could use. The light from the lampposts outside don't illuminate the alleyway all that well

"There's got to be something, anything…" Cinder whispers to herself as she feels along the ground. She is on the verge of crying when she spots her salvation.

It's the remains of a homeless person's makeshift home. Judging by the state of it, it had been abandoned a long time ago. She began tearing it apart and tossing the torn chunks into a nearby barrel. Just before she threw the last bits in, she heated them to the point where they would burst into flames on their own. She then heated the barrel to help the other items inside ignite.

In no time at all the fire is raging. She holds her hands out to it, basking in the warmth of the fire. When she finally feels warm enough, she heats the sleeping bag that had been inside the shelter to the point of killing any germs or bacteria left on it. She then lays the bag on the ground beside the barrel. She makes sure it can't be seen from the entrance of the alleyway. Feeling safe for the first time in a while, she began making a plan.

She knew she couldn't stay in Atlas, not after what had happened at the Unicorn. She'd need to leave the Kingdom. How to do it is her biggest obstacle. Walk? Not smart. She'd already been freezing to death at this point, and there was no way to get food out there. Bullhead? If she could sneak aboard, she could sneak out wherever they landed… she'd just need to make sure it wasn't somewhere in Atlas.

She continued thinking of ideas until she finally drifted off to sleep. It was not a peaceful one.

Unknown location, Unknown System, Mid-Rim Territories Outskirts

Khooh Puuhr

Vader gazed upon the world below him. Despite what he felt, it looked like an ordinary world. That was of course not taking the moon orbiting it into account. The shattered moon spat in the face of everything science said about gravity, but that was something that the Dark Lord didn't care about. He activated the cloaking generator as he made his descent to the planet. He nudged the ship toward the landmass with fewer visible signs of people.

It was only a matter of minutes before the shuttle touched the ground. When it did, the Dark Lord stood and strode to the exit ramp, using the Force to lower the ramp. The hiss of hydraulics echoed around the idyllic forest around him. He gazed around the forest, looking for any signs of intelligent life. There could be no witnesses to his arrival.

Seeing nothing, he turned back to the shuttle, and with a flick of his wrist, raised the shuttle ramp once he'd gotten outside. The ramp closed with the same hiss. He then shut the shuttle down with another flick of his wrist, though he did keep the cloaking generator on. He didn't want the ship to be found and taken by the local populace.

With the shuttle taken care of, Vader looked into the Force once more. He was surprised when he discovered how attuned this world was to it. There was high concentration of both the Light Side and Dark Side on this world, but there didn't seem to be any Force-Sensitive… wait. There.

There was a presence heading toward him. It was on the opposite side of the forest, near one of the cities he'd seen from orbit. It was frightened, angry, and full of pain. A perfect combination for a wielder of the Dark Side. When he focused on it, he noticed that it had a… familiar quality to it. He couldn't quite understand why that was. He would, of course, not have the answer to that unless he discovered it himself. Perhaps it could be molded in the same way the Jedi child was: a disposable pawn for his master and his plan to root out rebellion.

Then a stray thought occurred to him… why not take the presence for himself? The boy should be enough to take care of the rebel movements. His master had many Hands and other such pawns at his disposal, why shouldn't he have one? One who he knows will be loyal to him and him alone when the time came. The time when he replaced his master, as is taught by the Sith.

He began moving toward the presence, his path clear.

Outside of Windpath, Kingdom of Mistral

She's honestly surprised she was able to find a Bullhead. Granted, she'd had to sneak in, but she at least found one that was going to a different kingdom. She hadn't expected to come across one so quickly, considering it had been two days since she'd freed herself. She'd managed it, though. She relaxed as the Bullhead lifted off. It would be the last time she'd be able to in a long time.

When they'd finally set down, Cinder had no time to lose. As soon as the doors opened, she'd wait for backs to be turned or any kind of distraction before she'd make her escape. What she wasn't expecting was the Bullhead to take off again. When the doors opened again, someone who was definitely not part of the crew entered. He was moving towards an unopened crate with a pry bar in hand.

"Boss say what we're supposed to do with the Bullhead?" he asked over his shoulder. She heard someone outside grunt.

"'Dump it', I think. Though he might want to keep it? I'm not gonna be the one to ask though. Remember what happened to the last guy who bugged the boss?"

"Gods, why'd you have to remind me?"

"Why else? Now hurry up, we don't got all day. People are talking about Grimm being stirred up."

"Right, just checking the merchandise…" Pry bar said as he cracked the crate's lid open.

As Cinder went to hide behind another crate, something shifted in the deck plates underneath her feet. She tensed as she heard Pry Bar stop moving.

"The fuck was that?"

She heard footsteps approaching. She thought about reaching for her sword, but what good would that do? She'd only make more noise getting it. She remembered her other abilities and realized she still had a chance. She waited for Pry Bar to come around the corner.

When he did, her hand shot out and he gasped. He dropped the pry bar as his hands went to his throat. She moved forward, keeping the man in front of her as the one outside raised a pistol at her.

"The fuck?! Let him go!"

Her eyes narrowed at the gun before she spoke, "When you toss the gun over here. Until then, your… coworker here is going to keep choking. Are you willing to risk him dying?"

She saw his teeth clench before he complied. The gun landed with a soft thump as it hit the ground just behind Pry Bar. Cinder had a thought, and with her other hand, reached out to the gun. It lifted from the ground lazily with her hand movement. She made a fist, and the gun flew toward her. She opened her hand before the weapon collided with her fist. It stopped just inside the reach of her hand. She reached out fully and took it.

"Quit fucking with you Semblance and let my friend go, bitch!" the unarmed man said, and her eyes snapped to him.

She levelled the gun at him before speaking again, "You really should have kept your mouth shut."

She clenched the hand choking Pry Bar into a fist, breaking his neck. The unarmed man looked in horror before rage replaced it. She could already see he was about to charge her and without a second thought, pulled the trigger on the gun.

"Gagh!" the unarmed man cried as the bullet hit his knee. Cinder hadn't been aiming there, of course, but she'd take it.

She let go of Pry Bar's corpse then. She reached the unoccupied hand back and summoned the sword. As she held the sword, she stuffed the pistol into the waistband of her pants. She considered, for a moment, dealing with the unarmed man, but then she remembered him mentioning "stirred up" Grimm. It would be better to get moving now, especially since the sun was getting low. If she remembered right, there should be a few villages within the forest.

She started moving, stopping only long enough to look Pry Bar over. He thankfully had a snack bar. She hadn't eaten since she'd left Atlas. As she moved away, she heard the unarmed man start yelling at her.

She ignored him.

Unknown Location, Unknown System, Mid-Rim Territories Outskirts

Khooh Puuhr

Vader continued his march; despite the impediments he kept coming across. He was being constantly and consistently attacked by creatures that resembled animals yet somehow were not animals. The creatures, which positively exuded the Dark Side, each had a pair of glowing red eyes. Their body was reminiscent of a lupine one, though covered in pitch-black fur. Their faces were also covered by white plates of what looked like bone. Bony spikes jetted out from their backs, shoulders and arms. Each also had a short, stubby tail.

He felt that there were more than just the ones he'd already fought and killed, but they seemed content for the lupine ones to attack and weaken him. They clearly didn't realize that Vader would never tire. He heard a rustling noise ahead and narrowed his eyes in annoyance. It would appear the beasts wish to try again.

He unhooked his lightsaber from its customary spot on his left side, recognizing the by-now feeling of the creatures' approach. The blood-red blade of the lightsaber came to life with a snap-hiss. Almost like clockwork, a pack of those beasts appeared, sprinting toward him from a bush up ahead.

He swung his blade vertically through the first one to reach him. A pair leapt at him with their mouths open and claws open to tear him apart. He grasped the pair with the Force and sent them hurtling towards a distant tree. It was with enough force to reach terminal velocity in seconds. Another creature is angling for what it believes to be his weak side, and with a quick swipe of his blade, its head is separated from its body. The final creature is snarling at him. He grasps the creature's throat with the Force and lifts his blade toward it. He pulls it toward himself, impaling it on the blade.

The creature started to disintegrate as it hung from his blade. He deactivated it, allowing the beast to fall. It is an odd quirk of theirs. Why a creature would be designed to disintegrate on death was a curiosity for ones with more time and patience than he had to figure out.

He kept his lightsaber in his hand as he continued forward. He does not see the point in placing it back onto his belt considering how frequent the skirmishes with the creatures continued to occur. As he walks, he notices that other than his breathing, there is no other noise. The forest was entirely silent.

He pays little attention to it once he does notice it. He knows that it means an animal is hunting, but he is a Sith Lord. Such fears are beneath him. He instead pays attention to the setting sun. He focuses on the Force presence, and while it still has not noticed him, it continues to approach him. Were he to stop, he wouldn't be surprised if the Force presence would meet him in, at most, a day.

He continued forward regardless of that fact. As the sun sets fully behind him, he notices the Light Side diminish greatly, as if it was hiding from the dark of night. The Dark Lord briefly wondered if that would mean more of the creatures would come out. He resigned himself to that as he marched toward the presence. If nothing else, they gave him something to do, which was one of the few things he welcomed. Anything to distract him from his memories.

Mistralian Wilderness, Kingdom of Mistral

Cinder gazed at the stars and shattered moon above. She wondered what she was going to do now that she was lost in the woods. Without the sun to light her way, she couldn't see much of anything. She considered loosing a bolt of lightning from her fingertips to get a quick snapshot of what lay ahead, but that would likely give her own position away. She contemplated setting camp here for the night, but there was the possibility of Grimm coming to attack her at any time.

So, she continued to move. She hoped she would at some point spot the lights of a village soon. That was likely a pipe dream knowing her luck. There was a rustling noise somewhere behind her, and her blood ran cold. Her grip tightened on the sword as her other hand reached down for the gun she still had. As she withdrew the gun, she turned her head to look.

A Grimm burst out of the foliage, charging straight for her. She hastily raised the pistol towards the monster and fired. The shot missed and impacted somewhere in the foliage. She kept firing, scoring a few hits on the monster. None of the shots hit anywhere vital. She jerked the trigger once more, only to hear a click. The Grimm is almost on her as she tosses the gun away and raises her bloody sword.

If there was a single thing that Rhodes taught her that she was grateful for, it was how to fight Grimm. She blocked its claws as it swung its arm toward her. It was thrown off balance by the block, and Cinder took that opportunity to slice at the Grimm's torso. It hissed in pain, letting her know that she had at least grazed it.

It went to strike at her again. She didn't let it as she plunged the sword through its chest with enough force to punch the sword out its back. The monster still tried to attack, but it was easily dodged. She pulled the sword out as she dodged. The Grimm fell to its knees before collapsing fully. She watched the creature begin to disintegrate until the sound of howls echoed around her. She swallowed, bringing her sword up as her eyes quickly glanced between her left and right.

They would likely come from all sides. She would be ready for them. She let out a silent snarl as the first group charged out of the bushes around her.

Khooh Puuhr

The Dark Lord knew he was close now. He could distinctly feel the presence was only meters away now. It would also seem that the creatures knew this too. They had attacked him in fewer and fewer numbers than before. What had been originally groups of ten or twenty at a time had trickled down to two to five every ten minutes. He halted as he felt the forest around him come alive with a familiar power.

The presence was using everything it had, it seemed, to fight the creatures. Vader took that time to try and see just who the presence was. He stealthily looked through the presence's thoughts and feelings, discovering in the process that the presence was a young girl, no older than ten years old. What he found filled him with a familiar anger.

Her life was similar to hi- Skywalker's when he'd been a young boy growing up on Tatooine. She was a slave, and one that had been treated almost as poorly as he'd been. Vader had detested slavery ever since he'd been freed. He was by all accounts a free man… but he knew that was all a lie. He would never be free so long as Sidious lived.

The trees around him began to creak and groan as he unconsciously crushed them in an echo of when he'd been reborn after Mustafar. Sap, leaves, and branches fell from the more destroyed trees. The Dark Lord didn't notice when the next group of creatures came to attack as they too were crushed.

It took a wayward bolt of Force Lightning lighting up the forest ahead of Vader for him to stop destroying his surroundings, so shocked was he at seeing the ability come from someone so young. Force Lightning was an advanced Dark Side ability, and took many years to truly master, let alone conjure. The fact that this girl was able to do so was impressive. Her usage of the ability would need honing, of course, but that would come in time.

He noticed the howling now, too. Another oddity of the creatures. Why would they howl? Wouldn't it be easier to hunt their prey if they remained quiet? Vader did not ponder this for long for two reasons. The first was that he simply did not care about the reason for it. The other reason was that he had no time for distractions, as he found himself surrounded by the creatures once more.

He activated his blade once again and waited for the creatures to attack. When they did, his counterattack was as swift and brutal as it always was. The creatures never stood a chance. As they came at him, he continued moving to the presence, not letting them slow him down.

The sword Cinder held had become heavier and heavier with each consecutive swing against the Grimm. She began to use her other abilities to hold the tide back, her anger and desperation increasing as the Grimm came at her in increasing numbers. She had thought their numbers were lessening before. It seems that whatever it was that was drawing them away had been dealt with. It didn't matter now. What did was her surviving this renewed assault.

A group of snarling faces rushed towards her, and she unleashed a pair of lightning bolts at them, hoping they would amplify each other as they hit the group. She felt something come up behind her and slash at her back. She screamed in rage and spun to face the new threat. She seized the Grimm with her abilities before sending it flying into another group. The group she electrocuted were getting their second wind when she turned back to them. She sent another burst of lightning at them, smirking as they convulsed.

She heard a pair of them coming at her from her sides, and with the training Rhodes had given her, she leapt above both, letting them crash into each other. In their frantic scramble to become unentangled and go after her again, she plunged her sword through the first's skull. She grasped the other's head as she did this and electrocuted the beast. She let go of the burnt Grimm when she'd wrenched her sword free of the first's skull. She was breathing harder now, and when she looked up again, she saw another charge coming toward her.

She would not die here. She hadn't escaped the Hell that had been the Glass Unicorn to die in the backwoods of Mistral. She raised her sword once more, and that was when she saw it. There was a red light in the forest behind the Grimm, and it was coming toward her. She wondered what kind of Grimm would give off a red light like that. Then she heard a new sound.

The sound was coming from the same direction as the light. It was not a howl, but it seemed to be as loud as the howl. It was almost competing with the howl in terms of which was louder in that moment. The sound was far more mechanical than the organic sounds of the Grimm. As she heard it, she was struck by the idea that it sounded almost like… breathing?

Khooh Puuhr

Khooh Puuhr

The Dark Lord could see the girl now. She was by no means frail, but it was clear she had not eaten in some time. Her black hair was unkempt and slick with sweat. The clothing she wore, a uniform that had once been white, was dingy, disheveled, and spattered with small splashes of blood. The sword she wielded was quite large for someone of her size.

The sword had a silver double-edged blade with a slightly curved and pointed tip. It had already seen much use; blood stained the blade from the tip down to the middle point. The hilt, from what Vader could see of it, was made of a dark metal, and the sword's guard rose on one side while falling on the other.

The girl's face was set with grim determination as she defended herself from a group of the creatures. Yet another oddity about them. Why split their attention when they could simply kill the girl and focus on him? Not that it would have mattered in the slightest against the Dark Lord.

She was evidently more skilled than he had realized. From how she looked, she had been fighting the beasts for quite some time before he arrived. Vader watched her from the corner of his eye as he continued to deal with his own adversaries. Whoever had trained the girl had certainly trained her well. Her form, while not graceful or even elegant, was decent enough for dealing with the creatures.

Her use of her Force abilities left much to be desired. She used it merely as a blunt instrument. It was a highly limiting way to use the Force, but for now, it worked. He would teach her finer control later. Though perhaps a showing of how to properly use the Force was in order…

Cinder hadn't paid attention to the red light as she continued to fight for her own survival. The Grimm kept coming at her, and though she was glad their attention was divided, she was progressively getting weaker and weaker. It was to be expected. She'd been running and fighting since escaping Atlas. She went to strike at the Grimm in front of her when her sword was battered out of her hands.

The Grimm then slashed at her chest, and finally, her Aura was broken. The beast towered over her, ready to pounce and end her life. She snarled and raised her hand toward it. That was when everything seemed to explode. The trees around her broke from their trunks and flew in every direction for about twenty feet. Rocks and bits of broken trees zipped past like bullets, some managing to impale the Grimm around her. There was a distinct smell of burning fur as a number of the beats were vaporized in the blast. Other Grimm were thrown everywhere, their bodies crashing against heavier rocks or shattering trees that were out of the blast zone.

She simply laid there, stunned at the devastation. Her sword was gone. She had only her other abilities to defend herself from whatever it was that had done this. Her mind slowly came back to life from the shock of the explosion, and she shifted her gaze to the red light.

The red light was coming from a sword with a blade of red light. The blade was held by a tall and imposing figure in black armor. There was a small box on his chest that blinked green and red every so often. The helmet of the figure, who she guessed was a man judging by his build, reminded her of a skull. The cape he wore billowed out behind him in the now quiet forest, save for the humming blade, and the man's breathing.

Khooh Puuhr

She blinked several times as she stared up at the figure. She saw movement in the hand holding the sword, and with a snap-hiss, the blade shrank back into the hilt, a cylinder of black and silver.

"Who… who are you?" Cinder asked, her voice barely audible.

"I am Darth Vader, and I can teach you to be strong," the figure, Darth Vader, said before he held a hand out to her, "but only if you come with me."

Cinder glanced at the hand, then up to Vader's helmet, then to the forest around her. She nodded to herself and grasped the proffered hand. Vader pulled her to her feet and reached out behind her. Her blade came flying to him and stopped right beside her hand. She took it without a sound. She proceeded to follow him into the dark forest. It would be the last she would see of Remnant for many years.

Author's Note:

Finally got this done. Again, blame my ADHD for my lack of updating or writing fics. To be clear, this is a side story to another of my fics: Issei Hyōdō, Apprentice of Vader. The two fics will largely not interact with one another, but events from this story will likely be mentioned in the main fic, as they share a universe.

Now, to any probable questions that come up:

Cinder being Force-Sensitive is meant to replace her status as the Fall Maiden, and while most of the RWBY story may be similar, do no assume everything will be. As an example, while there will be a Fall of Beacon in this fic, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, Neo, and Roman will not be the orchestrators of it. Her goals will be far more subtle than that of Salem's and her replacement for Cinder. Also, timeline-wise for the three universes, the Earth year is currently 1981. To better understand how the timeline works, here is the year for Remnant and Earth in 50 BBY: Earth year = 1946, Remnant year = 30 AGW.

I hope people will review and let me know what I could do to improve this story.

Rest In Peace James Earl Jones. You brought me so much joy as Darth Vader, Mufasa, and as Mr. Mertle in The Sand Lot (1993).