18 Chapter 18: Shinning Beacon

Cinder sat at the table of Tai's apartment eating breakfast. He lived here during the school year, and while it was mostly meant for one, she had been given the bed.

She glanced up at the tv, the headline was about vegan goat cheese that could be mass produced on the cheap, causing her to let out an angry sigh. It had been two weeks and still no news on the masked man.

Annoyed, Cinder went back to eating her toast with additional aggression.

"You know that attacking your meal won't make the police find the guy any faster, right?" Cinder looked up at Qrow who sat across from her. She gave him a pointed glare, before returning to her food.

"Oh come on. You shouldn't beat yourself up over the masked lunatic. He's probably strong enough to force me to go all out, so there's nobody who could have stopped him once he disappeared." Qrow said, taking a pointed swig from his flask. "Once you graduate, you can have the cream of the crop of hunting mad men like him."

"Were you even listening to what I've said?" Cinder asked coldly. "That masked lunatic has history with Summer. So he might target Yang or Ruby! I can't wait! I need to be stronger now!" When Qrow didn't even look up from his flask, Cinder felt her blood boil.

"He has a mind reading semblance or something! Meaning he'll know what you're going to do at the same time you do!" Cinder yelled. "Don't you understand how dangerous that is!? How does that not bother you!?"

Qrow continued to drink in a loud manner Cinder was sure he did just to piss her off. Then he finally lowered it, he took even more time to wipe his mouth, something he never did, before replying.

"Kid, grow up." He said calmly. "You can't afford to get this rattled after one lose. No matter how much that loss hurts."

"One loss? One Loss!?" Cinder bellowed, leaping to her feet knocking her chair over. "Someone died! And you're telling me to just get over it!? Well excuse me for having emotions and actually caring about someone else! Maybe you don't understand this, but some of us like having something other than alcohol for company!"

Qrow looked up at her with an annoyed expression. "Low blow, kid. Low blow." He said dryly, then picked up his flask and began drinking again, causing Cinder's to narrow. She actually missed him disappearing on long missions.

Wait a minute.

"Say, why are you even back in Vale?" Cinder asked, studying his face carefully. "I thought you were on some big important mission for Ozpin. What? Did you screw up so badly he kicked you off the job?"

Much to Cinder's annoyance, Qrow didn't react at all. He just continued to drink for several more minutes before answering.

"I was hunting a power Grimm. I killed it, when something weird happened. I just found out what it was and was returning to report it." Qrow still spoke like he was looking down on her, making her even more pissed off then before. "Huntsmen duty isn't all gilts and glamor like you kids think. Sometimes, you have to do really annoying things to get the job done. Believe me, I've done some incredibly annoying things in my life, but I guess you kids wouldn't quite get it."

Cinder glared at Qrow and crossed her arms. "Then enlighten me, oh great and might huntsman." She said mockingly. "What did you unearthed that was so important you had to come running back to Vale and not use the global communication network that was set up two years ago."

Qrow gave Cinder an annoyed look, then tried to drink more, but found his flask empty. With a sigh, he got up and walked over to Tai's alcohol stash. "It's called non ya business." Qrow said sarcastically, causing Cinder to bristle.

"Haha. I haven't heard that one before, you dirty old man." Cinder snarled. "Got anymore jokes that went out of style last decade? Or are you too drunk to think of anything?"

Qrow gave her a look, then took an empty glass from the cupboard. "I'm too drunk!" He said waving Cinder off. She was about to fire back at him, but was stopped as Tai opened the door.

"Cinder. We need to go. The Beacon airship is about to leave, and we don't want to miss it." Tai said, causing Cinder to give a start. She glanced at the clock and saw his was right. Quickly, she grabbed her suitcase from behind the couch and ran to the door.

"Sorry! My poor company made me lose track of time." Cinder said loudly enough for Qrow to hear, causing the older huntsmen to flip her off, a gesture she happily returned. Tai gave both of them a disapproving look, but didn't say anything.

As the two got to the car, Cinder threw her bag in the trunk, then made her way into the passenger seat. Once inside, Cinder turned to stare blankly out the window at nothing in particular.

"Hey." Tai said as he got inside the car. "How are you holding up? I know how hard the last few days have been, but please don't do anything crazy." Cinder closed her eyes in frustration. Everyone kept telling her not to go after the masked man, but surely they must know they were asking the impossible. After what he did, there was no way she wasn't getting revenge.

Of course, that was a mood point as she couldn't do anything when she didn't even know where he was or what he was planning. Hell, she didn't even know his end goal or motivation. She hadn't even seen his face.

Being in the dark was always so frustrating!

"Yeah well, I couldn't go after him if I wanted to." She said bitterly. "The police are about as useful as Qrow is at a Casino. By the time they find anything, he'll be long gone." Tai gave her a strange look, then turning his attention to the car as he backed out of the driveway.

"You know, the police aren't allowed to talk about an ongoing investigation." Tai said. "And this is technically a huntsmen job, so it's a little above their pay grade. But I understand your frustration. I want to see that mask murder hang too."

Tai glanced at the road, then leaned in to whisper into Cinder's ear.

"Tell you what. I know a secret passageway out of Beacon Academy, that you can use to go on your crusades."

Immediately Cinder wiped around, staring at Tai. "Y-you mean I can go hunting for him on my own?" She asked breathlessly. "I can get out of school if his sighted or any new updates on his whereabouts!?" She couldn't believe Tai was giving her this! It sounded too good to be true.

As for said man, he gave her a weak smile. "I could try and stop you. In fact, right now I want to pull you out of school until your head's clear, but I know one way or another, you'd find some way to sneak off to hunt for him with or without my help. This way I can give you something at least."

Tai turned to face Cinder with a serious expression he almost never had. "Just promise me one thing." He said. "Promise me that I'll get to see you again. Promise me you won't die."

Cinder stared up at Tai, eyes wide as she saw the fear and worry in his face. He was truly the kindest person on Remnant.

"I promise." Cinder said. "I'll train hard and study diligently. I won't be reckless or betray your trust. I promise not to go after that masked man until I'm ready to rip him apart."

Cinder smiled at her father, who returned a much weaker one.

"I'd prefer if you promised not to go looking for trouble." He said. "But this is the best I'm going to get, isn't it?" Cinder found herself unable to answer. She decided to keep her eyes on his feet instead.

Tai reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder, making Cinder look up. "Cinder, I know neither I nor Summer can stop you, but please, remember that revenge isn't worth throwing your life away."

Despite the kind meaning behind his words, Cinder found herself struggling to keep herself from arguing. As much as she loved Tai, he didn't know what it was like to finally free oneself of one's tormentor. The peace that came knowing they could never hurt you again. A peace only obtainable through the act of revenge.

"I understand." She said, choosing not to comment that she disagreed.

The rest of the ride the two fell into an enjoyable, if not uneasy, conversation, discussing the finer points of a movie they had watched when they first arrived in Vale.

When they finally reached the airfield, Tai helped Cinder get her luggage and walked her to the aircraft.

"Well, this is goodbye for now!" Cinder yelled over the sound of a nearby aircraft taking off. "I'll see everyone at Christmas break! Tell Ruby not to eat too many cookies or she'll get fat!"

"Ruby? That's right!" Tai said, his eyes widened as he remembered something. He quickly pulled out a small box and handed it to Cinder.

"Almost forget to give this to you!" He yelled as the nearby aircraft started to take off. "A gift from Ruby! She was planning on flying up here to give it to you personally, but after what happened, there was no way I was letting her come up here without Summer. So she asked me to give it to you instead."

Surprised, Cinder opened the box and was taken aback by yet another stunning present. A small pendant made entirely of white glass that spiraled up forming what looked like two wings. The center was made from a glass crystal that reflected light through the rest of the pendant making it appear to glow.

"This is incredible!" Cinder said awestruck. "How did Ruby buy something like this?" Tai just smirked at her.

"She didn't buy it." He said. "Remember all those glass smelting books you have? Well, for the past year or so, Ruby has been reading them while you were at Signal. And eventually, she designed this. From there, it was a simple job to find someone to smelt it."

Cinder just stared at the pendant. Then she hugged it close to her chest as a warm feeling spread across her body. Between this and her cloak, she wasn't sure if she would ever need another gift in her life.

Tai smiled at Cinder. He knew she wasn't always good with words, so he always read her actions. And he could tell Ruby's hard work was finally paying off.

"I'll tell her you send your thanks." Tai said. "I'm sure she'll be delighted to-"

"No." Cinder cut in, causing Tai to raise an eyebrow.

"No, I'll tell her myself." Cinder said as she looked up. "She spent so much time on this, I want her to hear it from me, in person." Tai smiled at Cinder. She had come so far from the angry little girl he had first met all those years ago.

Tai stepped forward and tied the pendant around Cinder's neck, then stepped back to admit it. "Wow." He said. "You have grown into such a beautiful woman, Cinder. I can't say how proud I am to be your father."

Immediately, Cinder pulled him into a hug, burying her face against his chest. "I love you, dad." She said as Tai returned her hug. They would miss each other, but no matter what, they would always be family.

As Cinder took her first steps onto Beacon Academy, she had to admit. It was amazing. The high cliff gave the same impression of Atlas, a high place to elevate those who lived there. Forcing everyone else to look up.

But unlike Atlas, this wasn't a city ruled by bureaucrats or money. Here a person's skill would dictate how they would be treated. Just the way it should be.

All around her, new students were getting off their ships and walking towards the academy. Some were talking with friends, while others looked around nervously, unsure of where to go. Cinder even noticed some of her old classmates, who gave her disgusted looks before steering away from her.

Cinder didn't mind. She didn't have any friends at Signal. Everyone in her class was so far beneath her, she hadn't seen who they would be worth her time. Now that she was at Beacon, she could prove how strong she was.

Suddenly, someone rammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" She snapped as she quickly caught herself. She turned to glare up at a large boy with messy brown hair clad in armor bearing his family's sigil. He had a huge mace strapped to his back and sneer across his face telling her he hadn't done that by accident.

"Sorry about that, girly." He said in a condescending tone. "Didn't know cheerleaders were allowed on school grounds. You looking for some autographs?" He laughed blatantly in her face, causing Cinder to angrily reach for her blades. She was NOT in the mood for this right now.

"Callum! Leave her alone!" Another voice called. Both looked over to see another student approaching. He had long brown hair held back in a ponytail and sharp black eyes. A shield as big as himself strapped on his back. He was wearing silver armor with a simple of a tree with two axes crossing in front of it. As he approached, the other student, Callum, sneered at him.

"Eric! What a surprise!" He said loudly, with a mocking smile. "I didn't think you'd make it in! Guess you got lucky that there was a misplaced document that allowed you to enter!"

Despite his taunting, Eric let out a chuckle.

"As tempting as it is to break your teeth in, there's no fighting allowed on campus, or did you forget that?" Eric said. "Do you want to get expelled before you've even attended your first class? Because if you do, I'd be more then willing to sit back and watch your dumb ass getting kicked to the curb, but how about you pick on someone who isn't a defenseless girl."

That did it.

Before either of the armored idiots could speak again, Cinder spun around to Callum's backside and kicked the back of his knee while elbowing him in the back of his head. The powerful blow sent him crashing to the ground with a grunt of pain as Cinder landed on top of him.

Quickly, she grabbed Callum's arm and twisted it behind his back while bringing her foot down onto his head, grinding him into the ground. She then spun to face Eric, drawing her sword with her free hand and aiming the blade at him.

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm no damsel in distress." Cinder said smugly, ignoring Callum's groans from below her. "I could take both of you out in a heartbeat. So if you're going to insult a woman again, I suggest you make sure it's not me first. Because next time, I might not be so merciful."

Eric stared at her, surprised by her speed. Then he began laughing, hand clutching his stomach as he doubled over. "Sorry for insulting you! But I hope you know, from now on, whenever I want you to beat this idiot senseless, I'm definitely coming to you!" He said through his laughter, and Cinder found her dislike of him grow even more. What an irritation he was.

Below her, Callum planted his free hand on the ground and started to push himself back, only for Cinder to twist his arm painfully causing him to stop.

"Get off you bitch!" He roared. "I'll kill you for this, hear me! I'll kill you!" Cinder rolled her eyes as she groaned at the threat. What an annoying pest. Could he be any more clichéd?

"Oh shut up!" She said as she spun her blade in her hand so the tip was facing down, then she drove it deep into the ground next to his head, silencing him immediately.

"I have places to be, and you two stooges are in my way. So how about we go our separate ways and pretend this never happened. That way I don't throw the both of you off this cliff." Cinder said as she grind Callum's head farther into the ground. "Although, if you two keep pestering me, then I really don't have a problem doing that. It might even be fun watching you both fall."

Eric's laughter slowly stopped and he looked up at her, but he didn't look scared or even fazed. In fact, he was grinning at her with confidence in his eyes.

"I'd like to see you try." He said, locking eyes with her. There was no hesitation, no doubt. He truly believed he could take her in a fight. Slowly, Cinder snakes her hand to her blade. She wasn't going to let this pest look down her just because he-

"Just kidding!

Cinder's eyes widened as Eric raised both hands in surrender. "W-what!?" She stammered out thoroughly confused. He had just admitted defeat without even trying?

"As tempting as it is to get expelled on my first day, I think I'd rather swallow my pride and take this fall gracefully." He said with a mocking bow. "So my lady, you have my word that I won't bother you intentionally. Believe me, I know a loose cannon when i see one."

Cinder scrawled, but didn't press the subject. Instead, she got up and began making her way towards the school, making sure to slam her foot onto Callum's head as she stepped off him.

As she made her way to the school, she glanced over her shoulder to see Eric helping Callum up, then holding him back when he tried to run at her. Eric must have some skill as it looked like he was having no trouble stop Callum who stood a good head taller.

Good.

She wanted him to get in so she could personally break his stupid face.

After the opening ceremony, (which Cinder had tuned out.) the new students were escorted to the ballroom where they would spend the night. Cinder had gotten her blankets out and made herself a nice bed. Now she was reading a book to kill time until she was ready to sleep.

The room had been split in two, boys on one side, girls on the other. They had been warned that any funny business would result in immediate expulsion, no if, ands, or buts. Despite that, the boys were making a point of flexing around as much as possible while they got ready for bed. Some of the girls were doing something similar by taking a deliberately long time to find their sleeping wear or having skimpy outfits.

Tai had often said he was glad Cinder wasn't like most girls her age, and now Cinder had to agree. This was an embarrassment. If all they wanted to do was hook up, why were theses idiots at Beacon? She hoped tomorrow's exam would get rid of the losers that weren't taking it seriously.

Cinder had landed herself a nice spot right at the corner next to the divide. She was far enough away from the girls who had cheap perfume and away from the center of the room where the majority of the boys were trying to show off. Pathetic.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

The quiet din of people preparing for bed was interrupted by a loud shot from the boy's side. Looking up from her book, Cinder saw Callum towering over a small goat Faunus. He was dressed only in boxers in a feeble attempt to wow some of the hopeless girls over. Talk about pathetic.

"I'm trying to get ready for bed, you stupid animal!" Callum roared. Clearly, his humiliation in the courtyard hadn't tempered his ego. Cinder let out a sigh. Why were all men so high strung? It was an embarrassment to watch.

But this wasn't her problem. So she turned her attention back to her book.

"Stupid beast." Callum snarled as he lifted the apologizing Faunus up by the scruff of his neck. "Why is Beacon letting animals like you into places that host the likes of me!?" Cinder was beginning to wonder the same thing. Why were loud mouthed idiots everywhere she went?

"Best someone put you back on your leash!" Callum pulled his fist back readying for a punch. Out of the corner of her eye, Cinder saw a dark skinned girl racing toward the two, but was struggling to get past the numerous people gathered around watching the fight.

Suddenly, Callum let out a scream as he was thrown backwards. The people scattered as his massive body flew across the room and into the wall on the far side. His blue aura flickering.

Now Cinder had her curiosity peaked. What was strong enough to blast someone that heavy that far?

Looking up, she saw a red haired bull Faunus standing between Callum and his would-be victim. He had hit Callum with his sword that looked like a katana, but had a weird scabbard. It was surrounded by several boxes that were attached to it by a hinge. Given it's appearance, she guessed the boxes could close over the scabbard. As for why, she had no idea.

But when she saw the insignia on his sleeve, she immediately recognized him.

Adam Taurus, a prodigy of the White Fang. Despite being her age, he was considered an elite member of the organization. Many were calling him the savior of the Faunus. She had heard stories about him taking out a Nevermore with a single strike.

Cinder grinned to herself. If he was attending this year, maybe she'd have some commotion after all.

"Aaarrhh!" Callum bellowed as he pulled himself out of the wall, glaring daggers at Adam. "You want to die, punk!?" He snarled as he ripping his weapon off the floor. "You've got some nerve attacking me! Someone's going to have to teach you animals you're place!"

Adam scoffed at the larger man's threat. "You're the one who starts it! You should be ashamed of yourself for attacking an innocent bystander!" Adam took a step back, placing himself in an offensive stance as he slid his blade back into its scabbard. Immediately, the boxes snapped shut and began admitting a dull humming. Cinder wondered what was happening there.

"But I suppose I should have expected as much from a human." Adam said loudly and arrogantly. "You people are so inferior to every other living creature that it makes sense you'd need to make yourself feel powerful by bullying the weak. But of course to everyone else, all you're doing is screaming loudly that you humans are pathetic!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a roar of outrage as several other people were standing. Weapons drawn and aimed at Adam from the many humans in the room. On the other hand, several of the Faunus students had stood as well. They aimed their weapon at their human neighbor.

Immediately tension in the room skyrocketed. The two hotheaded idiots had turned the entire room into a Mexican standoff. Even the students who hadn't jumped up when Adam made his comment were preparing for a fight.

Cinder put her book down and placed her hands on Midnight. She knew where this was heading.

The room filled with tension as all eye fixed on Adam and Callum. Everyone was wanting to see which one would make the first move. Adam's foot shifted slightly, just enough to give himself a lunging charge. Meanwhile, Callum repositioned his weapon to a defensive position.

"Okay! You've made your point! Now can we all just calm down before every one of us is expelled!?"

All eyes turned to a dark skinned girl who had jumped onto a railing of the upper balcony. Cinder recognized her as the one to first try to get between Callum and his victim. She was surprised she hadn't noticed the girl get there, but she supposed with all the tension, she must have just missed it.

The girl had dark skin and brown eyes. Short brown hair lay straight against her head. She was wearing an amber pendant clipped to the shoulder of her night gown and had a beauty mark under her left eye. She was in a very advantageous position, but didn't command much respect as she didn't have a weapon.

"I know everyone's a little jumpy right now, so how about we all just calm down and keep our arms and legs, and any other extremities, to ourselves for tonight and beat the crap out of each other tomorrow? What do ya say!?" She said, throwing her arms out as if she was some great leader who had just finished a moving speech.

The entire room just stared at her, then, to Cinder's surprise, Adam turned and walked away. "She may not be bright, but that girl knows how to take the wind out of my sails." He said, glancing back at Callum. "I'll beat you to a pulp later, assuming you can even get into the academy." Callum let out a huff, but turned and went back to his bedroll without a fight.

With a loud groan and a few more insults thrown, the crowd dispersed. Everyone went back to their bed and got back to preparing to sleep. Cinder noticed the goat Faunus approach Adam, most likely to thank him.

Turning her attention back to the dark skinned girl, Cinder saw her smile to herself, then jump back down to the floor. She weaved between the people as she made her way back to her sleeping area, apologizing to everyone as she went, even if they were at fault.

Just as the girl dodged around a large boy, she caught sight of Cinder watching her. The girl gave her a broad smile and flashed her the victory sign. Cinder rolled her eyes and turned away. She couldn't place it, but something about this girl reminded her of Ruby.

'She'll be the first one gone tomorrow.' Cinder thought to herself. No way someone that… cringe worthy would pass tomorrow's test. It was more amazing she had even applied. "Oh well. Won't matter in a few more hours." Cinder muttered to herself.

"I wouldn't count her out just yet."

Cinder looked up to see a white haired boy sitting across from her. He had light gray eyes and short messy white hair. A noticeable burn covered the right side of his neck. A necklace was tied around his wrist and she could make out a burned, broken, unrecognizable sigil on it. She noticed his blankets were dirty and he had an old rug sack laying next to him with what looked like non-perishable rations. He must be with some kind of traveling merchant or something.

"What makes you say that?" Cinder asked. "Someone all happy-go-lucky won't make it far on their ideal alone. You need power to survive in this world."

"And you think someone with a bright outlook can't be strong?" The boy countered. "A person's strength comes from their ideals. What they're willing to do to see them come to reality. That holds true no matter what you're doing. Regardless if it's as simple as getting through the day, or trying to save the world. How far you'll go is completely dependent on how far you're willing to go with your ideals. Pride and ego aren't a good measure of one's strength."

Cinder scowled at the boy. He sure liked to run his mouth.

"You seem pretty confident that you're right, but by your own logic, that doesn't prove your point. After all, confidence is just one's ego telling them their right based on their experience." Cinder counter confidently. "No real way to tell what's true by that type of backwards logic. And while ideals are important, at the end of the day, if you don't have power then you can't do anything with your ideology. That's a proven fact. Just look at anyone important, they all had enough power to get things done, they didn't waste time arguing about what they should use it for."

The white hair boy let out a chuckle as he stood up, bedroll in hand, a cocky grin on his face. "Perhaps, but if they had, then maybe our world wouldn't be in this sorry state for it's been in for a while. But I guess we'll never know. We'll just have to try to follow our own paths to the future and hope everything works out. That all us powerless kids can do."

Before Cinder could come up with a retort, the white hair boy turned and disappeared into the boy's side of the room.

Cinder stared dumbly after him. She wasn't sure what to make of him, but he was certainly interesting if nothing else. She hoped he'd make it through the exam. She wanted to prove herself right, and then rub it in his face.

"Things are getting interesting." She said to herself just as the lights went out.

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Fun fact, the Rwby wikis don't list characters ages. So I had to bend over backwards to find some. And even after all that, Cinder doesn't have a lot of character in her age group.

In fact, she has three that are in the canon show that are fighter. Roman, Robin, Winter, and Marrow. And they all already have different rolls that stop them from being in the main story. So I had to use the bare minimum number of characters to avoid overcrowding this story with OCs.

Don't worry. The OCs aren't going to hog the spotlight. Their there to play a certain roll and nothing else. So yeah, sorry to everyone who wanted to see more of Callum.

With that said, I hope you'll all continue to enjoy the story. The number of OCs was a necessary evil.