21 Chapter 21: Dawn of new beginnings

"Aahhhrr!" Callum bellowed as he fired a massive energy blast at the girls, forcing them to dodge in opposite directions. Cinder landed on the edge of the clearing, Amber closer to the ruins.

"What incredible power!" Cinder thought. To be able to use so much aura all at once, he must have an amazing reserve! Or he was just an idiot. She could believe either righ-"

"Watch out!"

Amber's warning came just in time. Cinder was able to roll out of the way of Callum, who had jumped into the air and brought his mace down right where she had been less then a second ago.

Before he could recover from the landing, Cinder snakes around behind him. She lashed out, aiming for the back of his neck. She activated her semblance, heating her blades causing them to glow.

Bang!

"Gah!" Cinder cried as the sniper shot her in the head, knocking her off balance. Before she could recover, Callum freed himself and smashed the pole of his mace against her, sending her flying to the forest's edge.

As she flew, Cinder slammed her blades together, turning them into a bow. She saw Callum charging after her and smirked. "Too easy!" She yelled as she fired her arrows. Callum couldn't react in time, the arrow hit I'm in the chest, then exploded sending him flying.

Landing on her feet, Cinder fired a second arrow at Callum. But it was sniped out of the air.

Cinder snarled as she turned to see the sniper on the trees. He was getting on her nerves! "Fine! I'll deal with you first then!" She yelled as she ran at him.

Immediately, bullets began raining down on her from the sniper, but she was fast enough to deflect them without losing much speed. She could see fear building in his eyes. He clearly wasn't good at close range combat.

As she approached, the sniper began retreating, firing from the hip as he leapt from tree to tree. But he was slow, He had barely gotten two trees away before Cinder was on top of him. "Got ya!" Cinder yelled as she leapt into the air for the sniper, deflecting his shots as she went. "It's over you annoying son of a bit-!"

Before she could land a blow, she was blasted out of the air as blue energy slammed into her side sending her crashing back down to earth.

"Gah!" Cinder hit the ground, losing her breath from the impact. Looking up, she saw Callum had gotten up and was charging her again. With a snarl of irritation, Cinder struggled onto her hands and knees. To have to use her mother's move against opponents like this was humiliating, but it would get rid of Callum, so she'd grin and bear it.

However, before he got close enough for her to strike, he pressed a switch on his mace. Immediately the ball detached from the hilt with only a chain connecting them. It was sent flying towards her while Callum stayed well out of her range.

Caught off guard, Cinder couldn't fully dodge the attack. She was able to avoid the ball, but as it hit the ground, a massive explosion of lightning came out of the ball, shocking her and messing up her landing, causing her to land in an undignified heap.

"Cinder!" Amber shouted. She tried to run to her teammate, but was cut off as an axe smashed in front of him, barely giving time to dodge. Stepping in front of her was the axeman with the tonfa and sword men taking positions on either side of her, surrounding her.

"You want to help her? You're going through us!" The swordsman said, a sneer across his face. With a sigh, Amber spun her staff above her head, creating a whirlwind that knocked her opponents back.

"Aaahh!" They screamed as they skidded back several feet. Now out of their range, Amber leveled her staff at the axeman. "You are a cliche. But fine, have it your way!" Amber said angrily. "Just don't blame me if you get badly hurt!"

They three huntsmen exchanged a glance, then charged her all at once from different sides.

A loud crash filled Cinder's ears as Callum chased her around the edge of the forest, smashing his mace against the ground every time he thought he could get her. Behind him, the sniper following them. He was always making sure he was in a position to see Cinder, but was outside of her attack range. What's more, he didn't attack unless Cinder did, making it impossible for her to chain together any attacks!

The two worked in perfect sync as the sniper would cover Callum and Callum could protect the sniper. She needed to break their combo if she wanted to have any change at victory.

Cinder spun around, pulling an arrow with gray fletching out of her quiver. Knocking the arrow, she waited for the lumbering fool to get close, then she shot the ground at their feet.

Immediately, both combatants were covered in steam as the arrow detonated on impact. With their line of sight broken, Cinder had a shot to end this.

Cinder charged forward, leaping off Callum's back into the air enraging from the steam. She fired three arrow at the sniper while he was still reeling in shock. The arrows landed around him, then exploded, blasting him out of the trees and back toward the ruins where he smashed through one of the pillars, causing his aura to flicker.

Smirking, Cinder took aim at him once again. This would finish him off!

Suddenly, a powerful blow hit her from behind, knocking her out of the air and crashing to the ground, winding her.

Slowly, Callum enraged from the steam, face red with fury. "Think you can make a fool of me, huh!?" He snarled. "Well, I think you've made me look bad for the last time, you bitch!" He pulled his fists back, then punched towards her, releasing a powerful energy several feet wide. It was too big for Cinder to dodge! Having no choice, she threw her arms up to block as she was engulfed by the attack.

"Aaahhhh!"

Amber looked up as she fended off her opponents. They had surrounded her, but she was constantly spinning her staff around to keep them guessing and always in a position to counter them. But while it kept them at bay, it also made it difficult for her to land any decisive blows.

However, when her partner screamed as she was thrown into the temple wall, she knew she had to do something.

She struck her staff down, and drew a circle around her with the dust tip. Immediately, the area burst into flames. Then, with her wind dust, she blow the flames towards her opponents, causing them to scream and jump back.

Seeing her opening, Amber ran to help Cinder. Clearly Callum was much stronger than she had anticipated. But if they could take him down, then they others wouldn't have a chance!

Behind her, Amber saw the axeman chasing after her. He was the only one who had gotten around the flames, but he was far too slow to catch her. Amber ignored him and made a b-line for the sniper.

Suddenly, Axeman broke off and ran towards the pedestals with the pieces on them instead. Curious, Amber glanced over to see what he was planning. Then her heart sank. He was charging at the unconscious Faunus!

Immediately, she broke off to intercept him, blasting wind behind her to accelerate. Behind her, the other two had gotten around the flames and were closing distance again.

She quickly slid to the side of the axeman. He saw her and spun, swinging his weapon at her neck, but Amber had predicted that. Without losing speed, she twisted out of the way of his attack and slammed her spear into his chest, then blasted him away with a burst of flames.

However, before she could even land property, the swordsman pressed a button and his sword transformed into a blade whip which wrapped around Amber's ankle. As she spun to counter, he yanked on the whip, tripping her. Tonfa lunged forward, closing distance between them and before Amber could hit the ground, he unleashed a barrage of powerful blows one after another, then pressed hit weapons against her stomach and fired a shotgun blast, sending her flying into the air.

Swordsman used the opportunity to whip her around and slam her into the ground a few times before throwing her into a pillar. "Gah!" Amber cried as her gold aura flickering. But she wasn't done!

Discharging her fired dust, she blasted tonfa away, then she attached lightning dust to her weapon. Stabbing the whip sword, she sent a powerful electric shock through the metal and back to its source.

The swordsman screamed and the whip somehow unwrapped from her ankle. Immediately, Amber was back on her feet. She grabbed the unconscious student and ran for the ruins. Behind her, Axeman has recovered, as has Tonfa, and they both chase.

Using more of her wind dust, Amber shot into the ruins and blew them back at once, giving her some much needed time.

Instead the ruins were pitch black, just what she needed. She ran to a corner and dumped the boy onto the ground. He was hidden, so they could target him anymore. It turned her stomach to think they would sink so low, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She ran and hid in another corner, waiting to ambush the three pests.

Swordsman came in first, flanked by the other two. He scanned around for her, then sneered. "Over there!" He yelled and pointed at Amber. Immediately, both of the other two changed their weapons into gun form. Shotguns for tonfa and a grenade launcher for axemen.

Amber cursed as she spun her staff around deflecting their shots. Of course one had a night-vision semblance! Why the hell not!

Meanwhile, Cinder struggled as Callum pinned her against the wall, trying to choke her with the long hilt of his mace. She was struggling as he was ridiculously powerful! Not even TaI had this much physical strength!

But she was still better!

Shifting her weight, Cinder drove the mace into the wall. Then kicked him in both sides where his armor was weakest. Callum grunted as he struggled to keep his footing. Seeing her opportunity, Cinder head-butted the idiot, causing him to stumble away as he clutched his nose.

But Cinder wasn't down yet! She lunged forward and landed three powerful attacks to his chest, then jumped up and kicked him in the face with both feet, knocking him backwards as she did a graceful flip, landing on her feet.

Bang!

Cinder spun, deflecting the bullet she knew was coming. The sniper may not have a vantage point anymore, but he was still an annoyance.

She tried to move in on Callum, but was stopped as said man jumped to his feet. Without warning, he began throwing punches at Cinder, each one releasing a blue energy blast. At the same time, the sniper began firing at her legs in a pincher assault that was clearly well practiced.

Cinder took a deep breath. She didn't have a choice. She hadn't mastered THAT move yet, but it was do or die time!

Cinder heated fire dust in her blades, causing them to glow red. Then she swung at one of the energy blasts headed her way. Immediately her blade cut through it, like a hot knife through butter. As she was pelted from both sides, Cinder gracefully danced around, deflecting both energy blasts and bullets simultaneously, all the while she stalled for time. She saw the dust was beginning to release steam, but it still wasn't hot enough.

Realizing he wasn't winning, Callum stopped his blasts, and charged at Cinder. Changing his mace into a flail, he began swinging it around his head, aiming to force the girl to retreat.

Seeing she needed more time, Cinder turned and began putting distance between herself and her opponents. Behind her, the sniper continued to take pot-shots at her, at the same time, Callum launched energy blasts after her. Cinder found herself being forced towards the temple, as her opponents tried to corner her. She glanced down at her blades and saw they were glowing orange from the heat.

It wasn't ready yet, but she had to go on the offensive.

Immediately, she spun around and charged at Callum. With a roar of rage, Callum swung his flail in a circle, it became a blur as he charged at Cinder, but she wasn't backing down. Her blades were getting so hot they were burning blue.

Almost there!

As they got close, Callum made the first move, swinging from wide from the left, so that if Cinder dodged, she'd have her back to the sniper.

But she didn't dodge.

With a single quick movement, she stabbed a blade through the links in the chain, then she twisted her weapon, locking her blade in place. In the same instance, Cinder kicked off the ground and his momentum carry her up into the air.

Cinder smirked at the shock on her opponent's face. She took aim and stabbed her second blade next to the first. She headed the satisfying hiss of metal and saw her blades burning blue and knew the time was right.

She ripped her blade in the opposite direction and cut right through the metal chain.

The ball was sent flying away as Callum stared at her in shock. He had never seen anything like that before! And unfortunately for him, Cinder wasn't done.

She brought her blades down onto his armor, slashing right through him and hitting the ground at the same time. Immediately, the area exploded with steam knocking Callum back and covering Cinder's form.

Cinder let out a dull gasp under her cover. She let her blades begin to cool as she felt her aura flicker. That was not a move she could use repeatedly. To heat her blades to that degree that quickly took all of her aura. Summer had warned her it wasn't ready for real combat, but she had just pulled it off. And Callum had to be hurting from an attack like that!

Cinder grinned as the steam cleared, Callum was on his hands and knees a few feet away. Bad burning covered his face indicating he had his aura broken. She smirked. If Callum was still conscious, he would probably run away screaming. There was no way that idiot was brave or skilled enough to fight with her aura.

Then her eyes narrowed as she saw a stream of green light flowing into his body. Confused, Cinder followed the light back to its source and saw the sniper on top of a pillar, hands outstretched towards Callum.

As the stream ended, the sniper fell onto his knees, aura disappearing.

"Gah!" Callum snarled as he pulled himself to his feet. Cinder's eyes widened as she took a step back. This wasn't in the plan!

"That was some attack." Callum said as he extended his handle into a long metal pull. "You took me out with two good blows. I'll have to remember that little jump trick you pulled. Unfortunately for you, I'm guessing that took a lot out of you. Bet you can't fight very well now, can ya?"

Cinder took another step back as he slowly began advancing towards her. This wasn't good! She still hadn't caught her breath yet! And he seemed to be at full power again! She was at a disadvantage, and they both knew it.

"I thought so." Callum smirked. "Too bad." With that, he charged at her, pulling his pole back to swat her.

"Let's end this already!"

Boom!

Amber leapt onto the roof of the temple as a hole was blasted in it. As soon as she touched down, she leveled her staff at the hole, knowing full well her opponents would be coming shortly.

Sure enough, tonfa and axeman leapt out of the hole and charged towards her. Holding her position, Amber struck and parried their attacks, keeping them at bay.

She had barely forced them back when a sword pierced the ground below her, she backflipped away, but the blade grazed her chin.

Undeterred, she swung her staff, catching the whip blade and wrapping it around her staff. Then she hauled both weapon and huntsman up onto the roof, surprise written all over his face. She landed a power kick to his stomach, sending him flying backwards into tonfa, knocking them both off the roof.

Behind her, Axeman charged at her. Spinning again, Amber sent a powerful gust of wind, stopping him in his tracks. Then she follows up with a burst of electricity, which hit him dead center. He hadn't even finished screaming before she had shot forward and slammed her staff into his chest, knocking him off the roof as well.

Finally having a chance to catch her breath, Amber looked down at the other battle. She saw Cinder struggling to keep Callum at bay. At the rate they were going, she'd be overwhelmed soon.

Amber took aim at Callum with her lightning dust, but was took far to get a good shot in. For an instant, she thought about using her semblance. She could make a shot like this no problem with it, but the last time she had, all of her friends had been so weirded out, they had all left her.

Amber bit her lip as she contemplated what to do when something caught her attention. Behind Her, the swordsman had taken aim at the girl's legs. He was planning to end her while he had the chance! And with the power Callum was singing, he would kill the girl!

Amber opened her mouth to shout a warning, but she was too late! Swordsman swung low and wide, blade poised to tangle Cinder's legs! Callum had seen this too, he was moving in with an overhead attack! If it landed, it wouldn't just break her aura, it could do serious damage to the girl. More than enough damage to preeminently cripple her!

"No!" Amber thought. She had no choice, she had to do it. Even if Cinder got mad. The rough girl could hate her all she wanted, Amber wasn't letting Callum take the girl out!

Amber's eyes turned gold, the pupils letting out a faint light. Across the battlefield, Cinder's eyes turned gold as well. And in that instant, her mind opened, she saw everything differently.

In front of her, Callum was charging, eyes wide with glee. She could still see that, but from another part of her mind, something she was sure she never had before, she was looking down on herself with a staff pointing down towards her. And she saw a whip sword aimed at her legs quickly approaching.

She didn't have time to think, immediately she flipped over the blade and fired an arrow in the swordsman's direction. She didn't even have to aim as she could see herself from the roof of the temple.

At the same time, a bolt of lightning shot from the staff, blasting Callum. The shock stunned the giant for a second, giving Cinder the opportunity to shoot him as well. Her arrow's explosion sent him crashing into a tree, blue aura flickering.

"What the?!" Cinder murmured as she looked towards the temple. She saw Amber standing in the spot where she could see from. What was happening? Was this Amber's semblance? The ability to share what she could see to another?

Before she could ask, she saw the axeman use a grenade to rocket jump towards the roof of the temple. Cinder opened her mouth to warn the girl, but was stopped when Amber leapt off right above the axeman, catching him off guard.

Before he could react, she blasted him with more lightning, stunning him. Then she used wind dust to shit down, driving her spear onto his stomach and smashing him into the ground in the same move!

The smoke hadn't even cleared before Amber flipped out of it, landing next to Cinder. In the smoke, they could see a red aura flicker, then go out. And when the axeman didn't move, they both knew he was down.

"Sorry! I didn't have time to ask!" Amber said immediately. "It's just…I didn't have time to warn you! I figured this was faster! If that had hit you, it might have done serious damage and I don't want that!"

Cinder eyes were wide. She didn't think Amber would apologize. "Don't worry abou-!" She began, but before she could finish, she saw through Amber's eyes, the sniper taking aim at her from behind. At the same time, she saw tonfa, leapt off the roof above Amber.

"Amber!"

"I know!"

Both girls moved immediately, Cinder deflected the shot behind her, then fired an arrow back at the sniper which he was too slow to dodge and tore into his shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground screaming, his arm now completely useless. Meanwhile, Amber spun her staff and blasted lightning from the end, stunning tonfa letting her kick him across the clearing.

Both girls then slid backwards until they were back to back, one looking in either direction.

"Well, that made things a little more even, wouldn't you say!" Amber said cheerfully. To cheerfully in fact. Cinder glanced behind and saw a bead of sweat running down her cheek. She must not be able to maintain her semblance for too long.

"Don't worry about me." Amber whispered, she had seen Cinder looking at her and guessed what the girl was thinking. "I'll be fine, but right now we need something to get rid of these guys quickly. At this point, a prolonged battle only works against us."

Cinder found herself agreeing with the girl. As much as she hated to admit it, she wouldn't last much longer. And she had no intention of adding more scars to her body.

"Finish the fight? That's easier said than done." Cinder said. "They work together seamlessly. Unless we can separate them, we don't stand a chance."

"Or. What if we took them all out at once." Amber said, a sly grin appearing on her face. "I've got a plan, think you can keep them distracted for a few minutes?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow. Normally playing the bait in a hopeless situation like this was stupid as the other guy was just going to run, but Amber had rushed in to save a complete stranger without a moments hesitation. She didn't seem like the type to abandon someone.

Cinder bit her lip nervously, she had already done something incredibly stupid in trying to help. Maybe, just maybe, she'd be stupid once again and put her faith in her partner.

Cinder glanced at Amber with a smirk, hoping none of her nervousness showed. "Who do you think you're talking to?" She joked in an arrogant tone. "I could keep them busy for an hour! Just don't screw up whatsoever your planning because you've only got one shot!"

Amber smiled, she felt a warm sensation fill her stomach. It felt good to have friends again.

"You don't have to go crazy , I just need a few seconds and an opening." She said, giving Cinder a hard look. "And I need you to land the finishing blow." Cinder stared at Amber for a second, then turned back to her opponents with a nod.

Both girls readied themselves as the three remaining enemies charged them.

Immediately they began clashing with the two goons, clashing repeatedly keeping them at bay. Even quickly turning the battle in their favor!

But that changed very quickly as Amber was smashed by Callum's blue aura. The force sent her crashing into the stairs of the temple. Seeing an opening, the swordsman lunged at the girl, sword extended to impale her.

Amber was stunned and slow to react, by the time she had regained her breath, it was too late to dodge! Having no choice, she swung her staff up to parry the strike.

The weapons clashed and there was a loud crunch as the wind dust crystal was split in half. Amber eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that! But before she could fully grasp the situation, the swordsman spun, slammed his elbow into her head.

"Aaahh!" She cried, falling against the stairs. Using the opportunity, the swordsman ripped his blade free form Amber's staff, leaving the broken halves behind, still stuck in the wood. He repositioned above her and raised his blade to land a killing blow against the staggered girl below him.

Suddenly Cinder shot away from her opponent and planned a drop kick into his side! Sending the man flying into a tree at the edge of the clearing.

"On your feet!" Cinder yelled, spinning around to face Callum who was now charging at them.

Deciding not to wait for them, Cinder leapt off the stairs to meet him on solid ground. Immediately Callum took the challenge, attacking her with reckless ferocity. Despite this, his blows were powerful and targeted. Cinder found herself becoming too tired to block every blow.

Suddenly she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned slightly and saw the axe man had moved in from her right. She cursed and tried to counter, but her momentarily distraction gave Callum an opening to drive his handle into her side right below her ribs..

Cinder was winded from the blow, her aura shattered from the impact and fracturing her ribs. Above her, she saw the axeman, weapon pulled back, ready to strike her directly. And with no Aura, this would be fatal!

Cinder barely had time to comprehend what was happening before a raw dust crystal slammed into the axeman before exploding, sending him flying backwards as Cinder collapsed on the ground.

"Aaaahhh!"

Both combatants looked up to see Amber flying through the air towards them. Before Callum could react, Amber landed right on his face, knocking him to the ground. She swung her staff, now equipped with an ice dust crystal and released a burst of energy that froze Callum to the ground.

"Stay do- aaahhh!" Amber tried to reason, but was cut off as the swordsman's blade wrapped around her ankle, pulling her away to another fight.

At the same time, Callum's entire body began glowing blue. Cinder's eyes widened, she tried to get to her feet to stop him, but was too late. As the blue energy exploded knocking her away.

Cinder landed painfully at the stairs of the temple, head spinning. She crawled to her hands and knees, glaring up as Callum approached. His goons were off fighting Amber a few feet away and it looked like she was very well tied up.

"So, after all that tough talk, you're just a little girl after all!" Callum sneered. Soon, he was standing over her, tapping his weapon on his shoulder. "Serves you right for messing with me!" He yelled as he threw a kick at Cinder's head. "Next time you should be kissing my boots instead of mouthing off to your betters!"

He intended to end it there, to finish Cinder off before anyone could interfere. But that was far beyond him.

His eyes widened as Cinder blocked his kick and held it in place. He gave his foot a few struggles trying to free it, but Cinder held on tight, refusing to let go.

"You're all talk, aren't ya?" Cinder said in a quiet yet smug tone. "If this had been one on one, you'd have been beaten on the first move, but I guess that's too complicated for someone like you to understand." Cinder's grip tightened as she spoke, nails digging into his boot.

"But I guess I should thank you. After all, if a loser like you can fight like this with a team, I wonder how far I'll go with people of my own caliber. I think I'm finally starting to understand what my parents have been trying to tell me all these years, that working with others is a skill just like any other. And if I master it, I'll go even farther than before. I think I like that!"

She grinned up at Callum, eyes burning with determination that Callum could see reflecting in their abnormal golden hew.

"But as for you, your journey ends here!" She yelled as she threw him to the ground at the bottom of the stairs where he landed painfully in a heap.

"Why you!" Callum snarled as he sat back up, but before he could do anything, Amber swung her staff, blowing her opponents directly at him. As they collided, Amber leapt across the battlefield, landing in front of Cinder. She fixed her staff with a second, small wind dust crystal in between the split one.

"Sorry for the wait!" She called to the girl behind her. "But this is the end for these guys! You ready!?" Cinder nodded and through their linked vision, Amber knew her answer. Immediately, Amber pointed her staff at their three opponents and created a vortex of wind, blowing against them.

Callum slammed his hit into the ground to avoid getting blown away, as did the swordsman with his blade. Tonfa had to grab Callum's armor to stay where he was, but Callum was more than heavy enough for both of them.

"Hah! This is your big plan!?" Callum laughed. "You're going to need more than this to beat me!" Slowly he stood and took a step towards Amber, who simply grinned at him.

"Oh, there's more." She said, causing Callum to stop in his tracks. "This dust crystal is releasing dust fragments into the current. Right now all three of you are covered in it. I'm sure you know just how volatile dust is, so what would happen if something were to disturb it?"

Immediately, Cinder leapt above Amber, aiming an arrow at the base of the current. Callum's eyes went wide as he realized what was about to happen. "No! Don't you dare!" He screamed, panic etched across his face. Cinder just smirked in response.

"Amber, I think we'll get along just fine." She murmured to herself, then loosed the arrow.

As soon as it touched the current, Cinder ignited it, turning the vortex into a raging inferno of fire and explosions that completely blasted Callum and his goons away. They could hear him screaming like a bitch over the inferno.

Amber swung her staff onto her back as Cinder landed next to her. They looked at the charred earth that led a good way into the woods. Callum and his goons were laying unconscious at the very end.

Both girls let out a breath, that was way closer than they would have liked.

Cinder sheathed her blades as her second vision disappeared, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amber's aura flicker out. Her semblance must be very draining.

"Hey." Amber said softly, causing Cinder to turn to her. She saw the most radiant smile on the dark skinned girl's face that filled her stomach with a happy feeling. As annoying as she was, Cinder had to admit, Amber had more than proved herself capable.

"Thanks for coming back. I…it means a lot to me." Amber spoke with such sincerity Cinder couldn't help but think of Ruby again. Amber would get along very well with the little girl.

"Yeah, no problem. It's not like I could complete my mission if my partner wasn't there." Cinder said, making a point to avoid eye contact.

Amber smiled at her, but didn't comment. Instead she held out her hand in a closed fist.

"So…friends?" She asked and Cinder could stop herself from smiling.

"Friends." She replied, fist bumping her. Both girls hoped this was the start of a wonderful partnership.

Cinder stood with Amber as she watched several students being called up. She had felt a wave of disappointment as the first five teams were called and given their awards. She had felt more than a little annoyance upon finding out Fang wasn't just the first one back, but he was who had gotten the white king piece, but held her tongue so as not to ruin his moment.

Besides her, Amber placed a hand on her back gently, her expression regretfully. "I'm sorry." She said. "If it wasn't for me, you'd have gotten to stay at Beacon. I wish I could make it up to you."

Cinder bit back her retort. She was too furious with Amber right now to trust herself to speak. She was going back to the one place she never wanted to see again thanks to her. She almost wished she had left them to their own devices and saved her own skin.

But she knew she'd have regretted that as well. She owed her life to that kind of selfless kindness, and now she had repaid it, she never had to do that ever again.

As the five teams stood proudly on stage, the names of both the individual and the team name displayed on a large screen behind them, Ozpin stepped forward to address the crowd gathered below.

"I want to congratulate these five teams on their victory today." He gestured to the screen. "It was an amazing exam and a taste of what to expect in Beacon. As you all know, the remaining students who manage to get their relic will be sent to Atlas to enroll there as students of the great kingdom."

Cinder wanted to throw up when they were called a great kingdom. There wasn't anything Great about it.

"However. There is something I'd like to address." A murmur passed through the students body as Ozpin charged the screen behind him to display a to show a sixth team among the winners.

"This exam, despite numerous warnings, had a group of individuals trying to remove the other students from the running." As he spoke, several students began whispering amongst themselves. Many seemed taken aback that people would sink that low. " They would have not only broken their aura, but left them to die. There were two incidents where this happened. One out of racism, the other out of political agendas. And if it wasn't for the act of four brave students, several innocent lives would have been lost today."

Cinder's eyes widened and her heart started hammering in her chest. No way! This wasn't really happening, was it!?

"Theses four students gave up their chance at Beacon to do what was right and just. And as fate would have it, both groups picked the black queen pieces. If I were to ignore this kind of bravery, then I would not be worthy of being a headmaster. So it is my great honor to inform them that due to their courage, they have more than earned a place at these hallowed halls."

Immediately the people gathered began to cheer. Even the ones who hadn't gotten in were happy to hear about this almost fairytale like event carried out.

Beside her, Amber began jumping up and down in joy. "We did it, Cinder! We did it!" And for once Cinder didn't find her enthusiasm annoying. This was just short of a miracle!

Cinder was in a daze. Her mind reeling that she had been allowed in. She had tried to come to peace with her failure on the way back, but even then she could just barely keep herself from lashing out at Amber. Now she wasn't just getting a place at Beacon, she was being cheered onto the stage by the entire student body! This felt like a dream!

Suddenly, she was jilted out of her daze by Amber giving her shoulder a shake. Turning to look at the girl revealing a big smile that could rival even Ruby's. "Hey, we're supposed to go on stage. Ozpin wants to congratulate us formally. Or would you prefer trying Atlas instead?

Cinder let out a scuff. "Yeah right. In your dreams!" Despite her hard words, she couldn't keep a smile off her face. This was it, the first step to becoming the hero Ruby admired and taking revenge on the masked man. She was finally on her way.

She and Amber weaved their way through the students, making their way to the stage. People turned to congratulate them as they passed or give Cinder looks of shock and disbelief, courtesy of her old classmates.

Across the way, Cinder saw more people moving to let someone by. Her new teammates were approaching. And as they both stepped onto the stage and formed ranks in front of Ozpin, her surprise grew. She never would have guessed those two would end up as partners.

"Amber Alsprings, Adam Taurus, Cinder Rose, and Eric Schwarz. From this day forward, you will be known as team AACE (ace) and you will be proud Beacon students. Congratulations." Before Ozpin had even finished his speech, the crowd began applauding the sixth team to make it to Beacon.

Standing beside her new teammates, Cinder glanced down to look at the two she wasn't with. They both looked somewhat battered, Eric a little less than Adam, but given the fact he was lugging around a shield the size of his body, she wasn't that surprised.

"Hey." Amber whispered, causing Cinder to turn. "We did it! I told you good deeds are rewarded!" Cinder smiled at her partner's ignorance. Maybe this hyper girl wasn't so bad. Sure she was annoying as hell, but she more than proved herself today.

"Yeah, we did." Cinder murmured. As much as she hated to admit it, she was happy to be with Amber.

"Team AACE!" Ozpin said loudly over the applause. "You have all demonstrated your skill, abilities, and the drive to do what's right. I expect great things from all of you." Ozpin smiled at them before turning to come face-to-face with Cinder's partner. "Amber Alsprings, you will lead this team. I hope you're up for the challenge. It's a very big responsibility."

"M-me?" Amber asked, eyes wide in surprise. "A-are you sure? If I may, Cinder would be a better candidate for a leader than me." Amber grabbed Cinder's arm and pulled her over, trying to put her between Ozpin and herself, but the headmaster simply looked past the dark haired girl and straight at the brown haired one.

"Quite certain, Miss Alsprings." Ozpin said calmly. "You demonstrated your ability for tactical planning. All you need to do is have the confidence to let that shine."

Amber opened her mouth to protest, but was stopped when Cinder hit her lightly in the chest.

"Knock it off, would ya?" Cinder said. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're clearly the better leader. So just be excited about it and let's move on. Just put some hair on your chest and lead me effectively, okay?"

Amber stared at Cinder for a moment, then without warning, pulled the other girl into a tight hug. "Ahhh! I knew you liked me!" She said, bouncing up and down. "We'll make sure to get rid of that grumpy attitude of yours!"

"Hey! Get off me! Urg! You are so annoying!"

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

This is an example of why you should probably count words in your head when planning things out.

For the record, I planned to cram this into the end of last chapter. Fortunately, that one was long enough as is and I was just like, "well, I guess chapter 21 will just be on the short side. Oh well." Yeah, I tend to underestimate how many words go into a chapter

go go go go go go go go

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