I have my planned dates for the Christmas period finalised now, so there'll be no updates for them. My last update of the year will be Thursday 19th, and I shall return Saturday 4th January. I will be sure to mark dates accurately on the bottom of the last chapters.

That means the next chapter of this story won't be until the new year.

Chapter 4

If there was one thing Jaune hated then it was clothes shopping.

As typical a reaction that was for a lot of guys, his own reasons went a little deeper. When he and Cinder had still been adoptive children of the matron, they'd been forced to go out shopping with her and her real daughters. Naturally, the matron had a reputation in public to uphold so he and Cinder were rarely punished in public. Instead, they were treated as adopted children were supposed to be – with gentle kindness.

It was always a harrowing experience.

Having the woman who beat you simper and coo and ruffle your hair was, he imagined, like forcing a woman to smile in the face of a man who had abused her. He'd always been so very afraid of those moments because he was expected to smile and act happy back, and any failure to do so would end up with horrific punishment later. Sometimes they'd be punished anyway, just for the sake of it, as if the matron and her daughters felt dirty having to be nice to them for the day and were washing their hands of the icky feeling by backhanding them later.

Often, Jaune would retreat with a split lip and his new clothing, caught amidst confusing feelings of happiness for a rare moment of kindness and clinging fear of what would come later. Cinder was always quieter, simmering with unrestrained hatred and plotting the future murder of her abusers.

Cinder was never so cruel when she made him come shopping. Not once. That still didn't make the experience a fun one, as it often felt like he was reliving the trauma. Thankfully, she knew, and typically let him sit outside the shops with any bags they had. He trusted her to pick out the best clothing for him and she never failed on that front. Today was for Emerald, and he'd be even less use in picking out fashionable clothing for her.

Jaune could put up with the shopping mall for Emerald's sake. The girl had nothing but the dirty clothes she'd been wearing and deserved to have a real wardrobe. They'd already bought her a suitcase so she could bring her new belongings back with them to Mistral. It was resting between Jaune's feet along with some bags of cleaning supplies, toothbrushes, and such. Emerald had a doctor's and dentist's appointment in Mistral waiting for her as well.

The fact Cinder arranged all that would have been really sweet if her justification for it hadn't been to loudly say that she wasn't going to let Emerald in their house if she might have mites, lice, or some other nasty disease.

But it was still kindness. Jaune clung to that. His sister might be awful at saying things in a nice way, but setting up medical appointments for Emerald was still a net positive. It would help Emerald be healthier.

So that she could help them destroy Vale…

Okay, maybe still a little evil. I really need to talk Cinder out this thing.

"—come on, sis, I need a new pair of boots!"

"But Yaaaaang—"

"No. I sat around while you drooled over magazines so you can sit for fifteen minutes while I pick out some new shoes."

"As if it'll be just fifteen minutes! It'll be fifteen hours!"

Jaune tilted his head to watch the two loud girls approach. It looked like he wasn't the only one being dragged out with great reluctance. The shorter girl, wearing red and with black hair tipped with the same colour, was dragging her feet alongside a taller blonde with a wild mane of hair and a cocky smirk.

Sisters, from what they were saying, but they didn't look anything alike. Then again, neither did he and Cinder with the same hair combinations of yellow and black respectively. It was almost like looking in a mirror, except that Cinder was the young one, he the older, and he had a cracking pair of tits.

The blonde noticed him and smirked. "Hey, looks like you're not the only one sulking. You can stay out here with this guy while his girlfriend shops."

The smaller girl balked.

As did Jaune. "Whoah! Whoah! My sister is in there. Not my girlfriend."

"Really? Then you've even more in common." The girl grabbed her smaller sister and forced her onto the seat next to him. "Ruby, guy. Guy, Ruby." The introduction left a lot to be desired. "Sit here while I shop."

And then she was gone, leaving her younger sister with a man she didn't know. The poor girl was slowly turning bright red, her silver eyes occasionally flicking his way but only finding more reason to be embarrassed. Cinder might have teased him for making a girl blush, but he could tell she was more embarrassed about being forced to sit there.

"I'm Jaune, by the way. Not Guy."

"R… Ruby. And I'm so sorry about Yang."

"It's cool." Jaune took a little pity on her. The girl looked a few years younger than him. "Big sisters, eh? Does yours just steamroll over anything you say as well?"

"Does she!" Ruby said, giggling a little nervously. "Yang doesn't take no for an answer."

"Sounds like Cinder. My sister. Adoptive. Are you two…?"

"Same dad, different moms." Ruby had obviously had the question before and didn't sound distressed by it. "Our moms and dad were on the same team when they were huntsmen. I'm going to be a huntress!" Ruby then blushed and looked away. "Um. Uh…"

Nervous. It was obvious from the way she blurted it out that Ruby was unsure what to say and how to have a proper conversation. Jaune smiled gently. "That's cool. Cinder and I are going to be huntsman and huntress as well."

"Really!?" Her face lit up as she found common ground. "Then you're in an academy right now?"

"We'll be in Haven next year. In Mistral."

"So cool!" Ruby's eyes sparkled and she clasped her fists together. "I'm jealous! Me and Yang are in Signal, on Patch, but we're going to go to Beacon—" Jaune flinched. "Yang will be going the year after this one, and me two years later."

"Then you're fourteen now?"

"Hm." Ruby nodded. "And you're seventeen?"

"Sixteen."

"Wait, but aren't you going to Haven…?"

Oops. He'd forgotten that Cinder was going to cheat his age. "Ah, I'm right on the cusp," he fibbed. "I'll be seventeen, like, a few days before I go."

"Oh. That makes sense. Lucky. I wish I was going to Beacon sooner. I'm top of my class too, especially in weapons engineering. Do you like weapons? What weapon do you use? Do you have it here? Can I see it?"

Ruby was practically harassing his shopping bags with her eyes, as if she might be able to spot his weapon in there. Had his bags been women, they might have called the police on her for how hungrily she was undressing them.

"Um. No. Our weapons are back in our hotel. Cinder… Actually, Cinder doesn't have a weapon because her Semblance lets her use and shape glass into weapons of choice; she usually uses a bow and can turn that into twin swords."

"Whoahhhh! That's so cool!"

Jaune preened. "It is!" he affirmed. "My sister is the coolest. It's like dancing when she fights, and she always looks so elegant and controlled. I'm learning to use the sword, but I only have a practice one for now. Cinder wants to commission me a good one and she says she won't accept me having anything less than the best, so we're looking for the right person to make it."

"You're not going to make your own…?"

"I don't think I'd trust a sword I made. I'm pretty clumsy."

"Mmm." Ruby didn't sound convinced. "I guess that's okay, but making your own weapon is more personal. I'm working on my baby right now. It's going to be a collapsible scythe with a sniper rifle chamber. Here!" Ruby pulled out her scroll and opened it, quickly flicking through concept diagrams and pictures of the parts laid out on a worktop. "I'm working on the parts right now. This is the firing mechanism…"

Gone was the shy and nervous little girl and in her place was a monster. Jaune found himself bombarded with technical jargon he really wasn't qualified for, and from a girl two years his junior. It would have been humbling if he was actually a huntsman and not someone being casually trained on the side by Cinder. Her focus was always on combat strength, waving off theoretical subjects like this as something they could pay someone else to do.

It was obvious where Ruby's passions lay.

"—and I've been working on the joins here so that it can collapse and be worn on the back of my hip when not in use, but I've gotten stuck on the barrel. I can't have the barrel have any joints of hinges in it because that'll be something the bullet can catch, and then the barrel would explode and damage my baby—"

Jaune opened his mouth to say something, preferably to steer the conversation away from this one, but Ruby bowled over him. It wasn't out of rudeness. Rather, it seemed like she didn't realise how much she was rambling and was just happy to have someone interested in her weapon.

Even if he really wasn't.

Not that he was cruel enough to admit that now she'd given him a breakdown on her weapon's concept, strengths, and the history of every part of its development for the last three years. Jaune just nodded and make appreciative sounds and let her talk. It was still a better time than being forced into various outfits by Cinder.

"—and then I'm going to use the gunshots to propel myself as I—"

"Ahem." A throat was cleared nearby. "We're done."

Ruby froze.

Jaune looked up and smiled. "Cinder! All done?"

"Yes. What do you think?" Cinder gestured toward Emerald, who had traded in her mucky coat several sizes too large and ripped jeans for tight-fitting grey trousers and a vest combo. Her hair had also been cut less jagged and a little shorter. The girl fidgeted nervously, often glancing back at Cinder.

"Emerald! You look amazing!"

"Ah. Yeah." Emerald didn't stammer or blush. "Good." Her eyes flicked back to Cinder's and widened. Before Jaune could look, Emerald was in his face with a wild smile and hugging him. "I mean, thank you so, so much Jaune! All this means so much to me! Thank you!"

"Better…" Cinder murmured, in just a vaguely threatening tone. Her eyes slid to Ruby, still frozen, still unsure what to say. "Hm. And this is? Introduce me to your new… friend, Jaune. It'd be rude not to."

"Oh. Ruby, this is my big sister, Cinder. Cinder, this is Ruby. Her sister went into the store as well and dumped her outside like you did me."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Spared you, more like. Charmed." She didn't offer a hand for Ruby to shake. "I'm sure you can leave—"

"Ruby is going to be a huntress in Beacon. And she was just showing me the weapon she's been working on."

Whatever she'd been about to say halted. "Really…?" she asked, suddenly looking far more interested in the small girl. "Well, isn't that something. We're also going to become huntsmen and huntresses in Mistral. You know, perhaps you and Jaune should keep in touch. What is it they call it nowadays? Pen pals?"

"Really…?" Ruby sounded hopeful.

"Really…?" Jaune was suspicious. "That's awfully friendly of you, sis."

"You need more friends outside of me," she replied, with a shrug. "And perhaps having a friend to write letters to will do you some good. Not to mention you need advice with your own weapon. Perhaps it's destiny which drew you both together."

Okay. Cinder was laying it on far too thickly now. Cinder never encouraged him to make friends, and had done her best to make sure Emerald knew her place was as a minion, and now she wanted him to have a pen pal? He was about to call shenanigans, but Ruby beat him to it, smiling shyly.

"I'd like that. I don't have… um. I don't have a lot of friends outside Signal."

Jaune's heart melted. Damn it. "Well, you have one now!" he proclaimed. Cinder rolled her eyes and Emerald snorted. "Here, take my number. And don't be afraid to text me if you want to know what it's like in Haven."

Ruby's entire face lit up. "Really? Will you send me pictures!?"

"Sure."

"Of people's weapons!?"

"Uh…"

"And… And can I see your sister's?" she asked, shyly looking at Cinder. "J—Jaune said your Semblance is amazing and that you always look really cool when you use it."

"Did he?" Cinder would have normally berated him sharing valuable information, but she looked a little too smug to do that. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt." With a flash, she had a glass dagger in her hand, which she gave to Ruby. "Here you go."

"Whoooooah." Ruby cradled it and tested her finger on the edge. Naturally, she used aura, causing it to spark a little rather than draw blood. "And it's sharp. This is so cool! Can you make a sniper rifle!?"

"No. Complex weaponry requires moving parts that glass isn't good at. Pulling a trigger would break the glass, and even if it didn't the firing mechanism would shatter a glass bullet." Cinder let the knife fade away into motes of dust. Sand, really, the glass reduced back to it. "That's why I use a bow or thrown weaponry instead. It's the only safe way to launch a glass weapon."

Ruby looked like she wanted to launch into more questions, but for her own sister coming out with a bag of shopping. Jaune spotted her as she paused to watch them. He caught the narrowing of eyes as her sister assumed the worst, and then the slow grin as she realised Ruby wasn't in trouble and was smiling. Yang hung back, content to watch and let her sister have her moment.

But Ruby saw her and didn't realise. "Ah, that's my sister. T—Thanks for showing me your Semblance. And for being my friend, Jaune," she added, blushing shyly. "I can't wait to see pictures of Haven! Don't forget about me!"

The girl blurred off with speed far beyond what was humanly possible, obviously a Semblance. Cinder's eyebrow rose as a few flower petals swatted against her cheek. She brought a finger up to peel it off and let it fall to the ground.

"Making more friends already?" she asked him.

"It was really more that her sister dumped her with me. And since when do you want me to make friends in the first place? What was that back there?"

"Can I not feel sorry for an obviously shy and insecure little girl…?"

Jaune's eyes widened. His heart soared. Was this it? Was this the beginning of her redemption…? A smile blossomed over his face as he opened his mouth to praise her, maybe even hug her.

"And she will prove a useful source of information once she is in Beacon. If she feels the need to pay you back for pictures of Haven, we might be able to use her to glean important information on Beacon's security."

Aaand there went the good feelings, because he was reminded of the fact that Ruby was going to go to a school that Cinder was going to have them destroy, and that the only worth Cinder saw in her was as a potentially unwitting spy. Were they really going to put a poor girl like Ruby through all that pain and sorrow? All signs pointed to yes. Jaune's shoulders sagged.

"Don't get too attached to anyone," Cinder advised. "You never know if the person you befriend today is someone you will have to be rid of tomorrow." When he wilted even further, Cinder sighed. "Let's go buy some ice-cream. That'll make you feel better."

"I don't think ice-cream is going to solve the guilt of knowing I'm going to betray my new pen pal in the future, Cinder."

"Guilt? Whyever would you feel that…?"

There was still a long way to go toward her redemption, it seemed. Jaune whispered a silent apology to Ruby and made a mental note to find some way to protect her – either to convince her to not go to Beacon. Maybe it wouldn't matter. His overall goal was to prevent Cinder from doing this awful plan in the first place.

Maybe it was she who needed some more friends in her life.

Hmm. If I'm friends with Ruby, maybe I can convince Cinder to become friends with her big sister. I could make Cinder think there's value in it since Yang is going to Beacon two years earlier. Cinder would fake friendship to get valuable information, and it's possible she might genuinely come to see her as a friend if she fakes it long enough.

There was still a whole year and a bit before they had to worry about Vale. Time enough to get to know Ruby and try to set her sister and his up on a day out. All he needed to do was convince Cinder to bring them back to Vale sometime in the future. That shouldn't be too difficult if he made it out like it was to scout out the city again.

Operation: Get Cinder a Friend.

It had a nice ring to it.

/-/

Emerald was in prison.

Sort of.

The flight back to Mistral in a cramped aircraft had been all kinds of awkward because she was sat between Cinder and Jaune – an overly friendly puppy on one side, and murder personified on the other. Jaune had worried about her being afraid of flying and done his best to distract her with stupid card games for the whole journey, not realising that any fear she may have had paled in comparison to the fear she had of upsetting him and thus earning herself a one-way ticket to the boulevard of broken bodies.

Somehow, Cinder indulging Jaune by playing cards with them had only made it worse – because when Emerald won a hand, Cinder had given her such a horrific look that Emerald used her Semblance on Jaune to convince him she'd cheated, and that he'd actually won. He'd laughed her "cheating" off as all in good fun, while Cinder nodded along.

Emerald had heard of overprotective big sisters before, but Cinder took the cake and ate it! If she had her way, there would be snipers up on the rooftops around their home head shotting anyone who so much as looked at Jaune the wrong way.

And now she was in their home – her home as well, and that was vaguely horrifying. It was such a normal-looking house that Emerald wondered where the dungeon with all its torture equipment was. It wouldn't have surprised her if there were cameras in every room so Cinder could keep an eye on things either. The fact she couldn't see any just made her think they were too well hidden.

And, of course, Jaune was blind to it all. He saw his sister as a saint.

"This is your room," he said, holding the door open so she could step inside. "It's right across from Cinder's. Mine is next to hers. You're welcome to decorate it however you want – just make sure to keep it clean."

There was a comfortably looking bed and a window she suspected she would not make it out of before Cinder skinned her alive. Emerald eyed the cupboards. As a child, she'd dreamed of having a real family one day, but this was not it. She could feel Cinder listening in.

"Wow! It's amazing!" Emerald forced honey into every word. "Thank you so much, Jaune. You're so kind! I can't believe I'm this lucky!"

"Awww. Shucks." He blushed and kicked at his heel. "You don't have to be like that. You deserve a place to stay, Em. Can I call you Em?"

"Sure!"

As long as her name didn't include the lines "here lays" or "R.I.P" she was fine with it. Though she had a suspicion that if her name were to become Emerald Fall, she would also die, because Cinder didn't seem the kind to share him with anyone, even a potential future spouse. Emerald pitied the girl reckless enough to fall in love with him.

"I'll ask Cinder to get some shopping so I can cook a big meal for us tonight," he said. "You'd best stick to the house until you know the area better. Cinder can get a little testy when I head off alone without telling her."

Oh goodie; she was a controlling maniac to her own brother as well. What chance did Emerald have in that case? She nodded her head. "Noted. I'll stay here unless told otherwise."

"Great. We'll all be joining Haven together as a team, but I think we have to pick up a fourth member first."

"Am I allowed to know who that is…?"

"No idea. As in, I don't know who it is either." Jaune laughed. "But then I didn't know about you until I met you in Vale. It'll be someone with a Semblance she thinks will be useful. I'm sure she'll tell us about it once we're there."

"Right." Emerald wasn't brave enough to ask Cinder. "So, um. Is there anything I can do around the house to help you?"

"You don't need to."

"I want to!"

Because it would make him like her more, and because if she was busy helping Jaune, then Cinder might leave her to it. Between helping him was dishes and having to spend time with Cinder, Emerald knew which she'd prefer. She would stick to Jaune like glue. The only worry was if Cinder felt she was getting too close to Jaune, at which point she might be killed as well.

Stay away from him and I risk upsetting him and having her kill me, but if I get too close then Cinder might think I'm trying to take her place and kill me. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't! Emerald's mental self bit at her mental fingernails. Maybe this fourth member will be my way to safety. I can either stick to them or throw them in front of Cinder as a smokescreen. Use them as a sacrificial lamb.

Oh, she'd feel bad for it, but not half as bad as she'd feel being the centre of Cinder's attention. The poor idiot who would become their (likely unwilling) fourth member could suffer if it meant she stayed safe.

"I suppose you can help me hoover around the place," he said. "We've been gone a few days so the dust is building up. Cinder doesn't really do a lot of cleaning."

Emerald was not surprised. "What does she do?"

"Eh, mostly she plots the end of the world and other evil things."

"What?"

"I said we should clean up."

"No, that other bit—"

"I said we should clean up." Jaune smiled woodenly and handed her a vacuum cleaner. "And hey, just so you know, I'm not blind." He smiled warmly for her. "I know Cinder can be a little tough to get along with, and that she can be demanding." He squeezed her shoulder. "But underneath that cold exterior, she's a loving and kind big sister who always looks out for those she cares for, and I'm sure she'll come to care for you as well in time." He squeezed her shoulder a second time. "Trust me. Just get to know her a little more and you'll realise how amazing and wonderful a person she really is, and that everything else is just an exterior she puts on."

"…" He was as blind as a bat, apparently. Emerald forced a smile. "Yeah. Sure. So, cleaning?"

/-/

Jaune rather liked having Emerald around the house.

It was a surprise how excited she was to do chores and busy herself, since he'd imagined she would be quite slovenly from a life of never having anything to want to keep clean. Maybe that changed now that she owned things. Either way, Emerald was always up early and hard at work before Cinder even came down for her first coffee. In fact, Emerald seemed determined to be busy whenever Cinder was around.

He could only assume she wanted to impress Cinder with her hard-working attitude. That was cute! He'd told Cinder as much and encouraged her to reward Emerald by spending a little time with her. It was good to see them getting along; Emerald had been practically lost for words when Cinder, doing as he asked, decided to reward her hard work by going out on a shopping trip with her alone.

Whatever happened on that trip must have been fun because Emerald had come back and gone straight to bed and wouldn't tell him anything about it. A private chat between girls, he assumed.

In the three weeks since they'd come back, he'd exchanged a few lengthy mails with Ruby and gotten to learn about her weapon, her uncle's weapon, her sister's weapon and her dog – the important things in Ruby's life. He didn't even know her dad's name but knew his weapon in intimate detail. Ruby just referred to him as "dad" in her mails, after all. In turn, he'd been telling her stories about Cinder – the nice stories, since he was still gunning to try and have Cinder and Yang become friends in the future.

He'd been trying to encourage Emerald to be that as well, to see if Cinder might calm down if she had a lot of close friends around her, but Emerald was still keeping a respectful distance, probably because she felt she owed Cinder too much for giving her a home.

I'll have to keep pushing them to spend more time together. Emerald shouldn't have to feel like she's only allowed here if she's useful, and Cinder could use a female friend in her life. I'm sure they'll get over their awkwardness if I make them hang out enough.

Sat at the dining room table, Emerald shivered and rubbed her arms nervously.

Cinder interrupted his thoughts by slamming some papers down on the table. "We have our fourth teammate in sight. Marcus Black. His Semblance lets him steal the Semblances of others and use them, making him an asset we can't afford to ignore. We'll be heading out to recruit him in two days."

Emerald and Jaune accepted some documents. Emerald flicked through them and nodded, still too nervous to speak up and share her opinion. Jaune was not, and rather felt he had to say what Emerald was probably too afraid to say.

"Sis… do you not see a problem with this…?"

"No." Cinder tilted her head. "Should I…?"

"Sis… Marcus Black is thirty-six according to this."

"Yes."

"Thirty-six!"

"And?"

"He's an old man! That will have to pretend to be a first year in Haven!"

"Mature students exist."

"Not in huntsman academies, and not this mature!" he argued. "This is a shared dorm situation, and physical age is a barrier to being a huntsman. He'd be too old to perform by the time he graduates. No one will believe he's our teammate!"

"His Semblance, though…"

"It's a good Semblance," Jaune agreed. "But we can't recruit him as a fourth member of a team in Haven." He could almost see her beginning to wilt. Jaune sighed. "But I suppose you could recruit him in another way."

"Hmmmm?"

"He can't be a student but… well… I suppose that won't stop him joining us." Damn his soft heart. Jaune didn't like the idea of a Semblance-stealing old man around his sister, but if she was determined then he'd help her find a way. "Maybe he could pose as a distant uncle of ours or something."

"Then it's settled." Cinder clapped her hands together. "Marcus Black will be our unofficial fourth member. Now all we need to do is impress upon him the importance of working under me. I trust, Jaune, given that this is an old and wealthy man, that you will not feel the need to interrupt and adopt him to our family as you have Emerald?"

Jaune blushed. "I think I can hold off."

"Good. The last thing we need is you picking up another stray."

/-/

The house was on fire.

It wasn't their fault, either, Jaune felt the need to clarify. It had been burning when they arrived. Otherwise, he'd have absolutely believed his sister had a hand in setting it ablaze. A lone boy, without legs, dragged himself out the wreckage toward them, sweat pouring down his face alongside tears. The last of his strength left him and he sagged at their feet, utterly spent and unable to move another inch.

Jaune turned to look at his sister.

"No," she said.

He stared.

"No!"

"But Cinder…"

"No, Jaune! No means no! He doesn't even have legs for crying out loud! He'll be useless!"

Jaune's eyes watered. His bottom lip trembled.

Cinder glared back at him.

Her left eye twitched.

"Please…?"

"For fuck's sake," she hissed. "Fine! But you're dealing with him. Damn it all! And there goes my Semblance-stealing Semblance, too." Cinder kicked at the grass. "This cripple had better have a good one."

The boy, apparently just conscious enough to speak, replied, "I don't. My father stole mine…"

"DAMN IT!"

Next Chapter: 7th January

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