Cinder Fall was absent, neither behind the podium nor her mahogany desk, when we entered the classroom at the end of the long, winding hall that forked off from the cafeteria. Rather, what greeted us was four large gouges intersecting along the chalkboard. Claw marks gave a good indication of what was keeping the professor busy. That didn't stifle Nora's imagination, and she claimed there must have been a brawl involving hundreds of humans coming to reclaim the Land of Darkness. Such a fantastical tale earned a few grunts of acknowledgement from Ren while we claimed a bench in the middle row of the tiered seats.

Once again, I found Ruby on my left and Weiss seated on my right, a pattern I was fast becoming familiar with. Ruby, I could understand, considering that she was the only hybrid here to whom I had revealed my secret. Weiss, on the other hand, I was much less confident in pinpointing her exact motivations. It could be as simple as saving her life or lending her my sweatshirt when she had no suitable clothes to wear for classes. Either way, I was wary of her interest–something that would have been downright blasphemy to the younger me–and even more cautious when she invaded my personal space. She hadn't mentioned anything about my beating heart yet, so I assumed either Ruby knew more about the intricacies of living beings or Salem's magic hid it from anyone unaware I was anything other than a Grimm.

Ruby snarled at another student who had tried to sit next to her, baring her two little fangs and scrunching up her face. Honestly, I thought it was more cute than intimidating, but the bulbous Grimm hissed back twice before deciding better of it and moving to higher ground. I snorted at the whole display and Ruby cast her 'dangerous' scowl in my direction. "What?"

"Nothing, I just didn't expect you to be such a firecracker. Yang is one thing, but you…" I trailed off, realizing how insensitive I was being bringing up her older sister. Weiss had never actually explained the intricacies of the situation, but I gathered that she and Blake were currently MIA. There must have been some reason Salem singled the other half of Team RWBY out. Maybe this was an elaborate ruse to cause me to falter, torment Ruby, or simply her own sick twisted amusement? Regardless if she so much as hurt a hair on their heads, there would be hell to pay.

"It's fine. You don't have to tip-toe around me." She gave me a weak smile. "You know, I drink lots of blood, so I'm pretty grown up."

"Right," I teased her, wanting to deflect the earlier conversation and move away from this grosser one, "is that why you keep snapping at everyone who tries to sit next to you?"

"I'm not snapping. I'm guarding my territory from filthy Grimm."

I jutted my chin in the direction of the rest of our makeshift crew. "But you're ok with them?"

Her eyes widened. "Of course I am! They're my friends, so don't you dare compare them to those monsters! They only ever attacked someone in self-defense, and they've promised to help me get Yang and Blake back."

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean anything bad by it. You know they have a human saying that curiosity killed the cat, so I guess I just couldn't help myself."

"I-it's fine," she said. "I know this is a lot on you too. How can I expect you of all people to understand?"

That declaration hurt more than I'd like to admit. Ruby and I had shared a special kind of bond I liked to think: first to befriend each other at Beacon, both team leaders insecure in the position we'd been thrust into, and both doing our best to not let the deaths of our loved ones stop us from doing what was right. And now we were Grimm and human, desperately making the most of what little connections we could.

The tap of stilettos brought a strange chill over my body; the bright, amber eye of hers sealed the deal. When Weiss had explained that she was a professor at Salem Academy, I felt simmering twinges of emotion. I thought I had managed to suppress my rage when Salem herself had backstabbed the woman, slaying her by her own imitation of the Fall Maiden's power. Yet, I was wrong. My best-laid plans to keep my head down had fallen away like ashes to the wind.

My hand fell to my sheath–where my sheath should be–and came away empty. I had no weapon to kill that bitch, the one who had taken Pyrrha away from me. Salem may have twisted my ambition for reviving my friends, but even her reach had failed to raise my partner from the dead. All because of her selfish drive for power. And what the hell did that even get her besides a mutilated body, fried vocal cords, and the ultimate betrayal?

Pushing to my feet, I wrenched my arm out of Weiss' startled grasp and bolted down the stairs. None of the creations made a move to stop me, and I reached the bottom of the stairway unabated. My approach to Cinder was slowed, and I took the opportunity to observe her. Whatever enticing beauty she once held was long gone, replaced by ashen skin that appeared as though it had been flayed from her bones. Even with her mouth closed, her teeth poked through the flesh which failed to hold together. Her right arm was long, sinewy, and held together by two spikes intercrossed by dark veins where her elbow should be. Scars, both large and small, marred the rest of her body, hiding away the ruined remains of her other eye. She leaned heavily on the podium, tracking my movements with a carefree smirk.

"Cinder," I growled out.

"Ah, you too look like you want to kill me." She laughed darkly, her voice sounding hoarse and strained. "I'd say take a number and get in line because this seems to be happening more frequently than I would like. Remind me, though, who are you again?"

It was the same damning repeat of what happened in Mistral and brought me back to being a teenager, watching the javelin pierce through Weiss while I was powerless to defend any of my friends. Too weak to even defend Pyrrha's honor.

The general buzz from the rows to my back faded to static, and I closed the gap between us without hesitation. Imbuing my fists with Aura, and relying entirely on my training with Yang to prove enough, I swung at Cinder. Snorting, the woman ducked and struck out with her claws. I backed-handed the gangly arm away and jumped over her attempt to sweep my legs out from underneath me. A jab was thrown at my face, forcing me to quickly sidestep and retaliate with a hook of my own. It missed the mark by a scant few inches of caving in her infuriating smirk. I picked up the pace, trading blows with her to neutralize her advantage of speed and use the large reserve of Aura I had. A particularly strong hit connected and cracked the bone plate on her head while she swiped a claw over the side of my face.

Through the red, I couldn't help but grin, until something slammed into the back of my knees, and I unceremoniously found myself kneeling before her. Wiping the cut above my brow, I growled out a challenge, twisting, turning, and flailing my elbows out at the hybrid that refused to loosen their hold on me . "Don't involve others in this, you coward!"

"I should be the one saying that to you," she replied easily, then strolled to stand behind the podium. The great weight of her Beowolf-like arm dropped on it with a horrid creak and seeped over the edges. "I would talk to your partners there if you want to scold anyone about interference."

I thrashed and flipped around to look who had stopped me; guilty, silver eyes stared back. Ruby released me, awkwardly shuffling over to my side and staring defiantly at Cinder. Doing that drew a chuckle from Cinder, but she seemed to not regard her as an actual threat. Weiss came to stand on my left, and I could feel myself growing increasingly frustrated when she placed a hand over my stomach to hold me back. Didn't they realize what this bitch had done to Pyrrha? And they were just expecting me to allow this ghast to come back and do it all over again? But, obviously, neither Ruby nor Weiss had a clue. They had to keep reminding me of the face that all they really did was share their looks and the same names.

"We apologize for the commotion, Professor Fall. Something tells me you've already had quite the day, and we didn't intend to make things more difficult for you." The girl made a vague motion to the damaged chalkboard. "Jaune here is a new creation, so he doesn't know any–"

"That is quite enough, Miss Schnee. Ignorance is not a catch-all excuse for wanton violence. While that damn fool Tyrian may enjoy such things, I think power without reason is nothing more than a crux for weakness. Now, will you step aside and let us finish our fight to the death, or do we need to involve the class to even out the numbers?"

A few guttural growls and stomps met her call, the creations craving the opportunity to get involved. I instinctively pushed the two girls behind me, angling them toward the door in case some of them decided to lunge into the fray.

"Both of you need to let me handle this. I can deal with Cinder, but not if I have to worry about the two of you."

"Worry about us?" Weiss scoffed, and folded her arms. "We had to worry about you throwing your life away in a pointless, unprovoked fight you can't win. And here I thought you had a little more brains than the rest of them."

Ruby bobbed her head in agreement. "Yep, we're going to have to take a rain check on that one. If we step away, she's going to kill you."

"And how would you know that?" I growled, no longer to hold back my growing frustration. Did they not understand the situation we were in? I wasn't about to get them taken away from me again over my stupidity. If I had to die to protect them this time around, then I gladly would. "Just leave it alone and go."

"Nope." Ruby copied Weiss' stance as she popped the 'p' in her refusal.

"I agree. We can talk about your stupidity and reasoning later."

Damn them, and damn me for believing in them. "If you're going to stay, then watch my back."

"Righto."

"Of course."

Without another word, I fell into my practiced stance: fists drawn close to my chin, knees bent, and feet a shoulder-length apart. Cinder rolled her eye and lazily pointed in my direction. "Interesting. That's a stance you might see a human pugilist or boxer might have. I've never seen one of our own know something like that."

I didn't have the peace of mind at the moment to be worried about that secret spilling forth. Since I was trapped between a rock and a hard place anyway, I was going to go down fighting.

"Alright, enough of this farce. I wouldn't keep all of you in the dark any longer." She spoke past us, addressing the remainder of the room instead. "Jaune is no threat to my, or anyone else's, safety. In fact, we collaborated together to bring you this unique display and show you why and how a cornered human might fight you. It was also crucial to realize that humans rarely fight alone. If you try to hurt one of their own, they will quickly group up as a pack and try to overwhelm you with superior quantities."

"What?" I asked aloud without even registering it until the demoness turned to me.

"I thank you for your time and your exceptional acting skills, but I would appreciate it if all of you could return to your seats now."

Ruby and Weiss tensed beside me, perhaps realizing that the real farce here was the bullshit she was spewing. However, Weiss was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Her cold hands latched onto both mine and Ruby's as she dragged us up the stairs to our original seats. Some of the creations watched us curiously, but most were satisfied with the explanation that their professor had given.

Our original seating arrangement was no more. Instead, I was trapped in between Ren and Nora on one side, and the other two on the adjacent side of the bench. No doubt they were conspiring to keep me from flying off the handle and attempting to sabotage myself once more. No, even I wasn't that stupid. I hated that bitch with every fiber of my being, yet I knew now that without a weapon, defeating her was hopeless. I was bleeding through Aura to ensure that my strikes actually did anything to her tough skin while she had the benefit of nearly unlimited energy unless I managed to land a critical blow.

I would have to put this off until I had a clearer head and a suitable replacement for Crocea Mors. My stomach violently rumbled in protest to remind me that I had more important priorities.

"You know"–Nora leaned into my side–"I was going to break some kneecaps and snap some necks for you if Ren hadn't held me back."

"That was the last thing we needed at the moment, Nora."

"Whatever, party pooper."

I chuckled at the familiar antics. "I appreciate the thought."

Weiss cleared her throat. "And us?"

"Thank you, Weiss. Ruby. I… It means a lot to me that you came to back me up."

Weiss sighed. "Please just don't make it a habit."

I winced at the flick Ruby gave my forehead, reaching across Weiss to deliver my punishment. "We'll be talking later, and you're going to make everything make sense."

"I'll do my best."

"Somehow I feel like that's not going to be good enough…"

Horrid screeching rang across the classroom, drawing a few cries of distress. I was too busy covering my ears to notice what type of pathetic noise I made. The only thing I could do was glare at the origin of the noise. She was unperturbed, dropping her horrid arm away from the new indentations carved into it.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, I want to remind you why I went through the hassle of that little display. Our field trip to Forever Falls is approaching soon, and all of you need to be prepared." The corners of her lips turned upward. "After all, I expect it to be something of a massacre."

Cinder being evil, and Jaune having a lot of explaining to do. Name a more iconic duo. Have a great rest of the weekend, and the next chapter will be on Wednesday!