A/N So I'm finally back with this! Sorry for being late on top of being late, but it's here. This chapter is probably the most mundane you'll get out if this story. It's a pretty sedated bridge to the actual point to where the plot kicks off.

Sorry if it's not what you were waiting for, but after this we'll get to the juicy parts of the fic, as well as more on character backgrounds. I don't want to tell everything right away, as this will be a pretty long fic.

But here it is! Thanks for sticking around ladies and gents. It's good to be back again lol.

Chapter 3. Interlude

"I fought the war, but the war won't stop for the love of God."

"So uh, where exactly are we going?!" Ruby's voice called out over the blaring engine of the modified vehicle. The crimsonette had been leading the other car along for what she guessed was easily fifty kilometers now. By the looks of the terrain, they neared the north-westernmost part of the land. The northwest was home to the more rugged and mountainous landscape of the area, but where Ruby was currently driving; bordered on dessert and less foreseeable terrain.

From the opposite side of the vehicle, Cinder didn't even give her a glance. Her right hand was still covering her wounded knee and the other was using the car's roll cage as something to hang on to.

"We will go where I say we will go," Cinder spat, "Is that a problem? Last time I checked, you and your blonde friend weren't the individuals in charge."

"We're not friends." Yang cut in from the behind Ruby's seat, eyes facing forward.

"..."

"Yang, she's not my friend. She's my sister, which is kinda like a friend, but closer…?" The redhead explained, not entirely sure why Yang had brought that up.

'They don't even look alike.' Cinder thought. Externally her expression retained its flatness, "2 sisters... your mother must be so proud…"

Ruby was taken back by Cinder's unnecessarily snide comment. But she felt her hands tighten their grip on the steering wheel upon seeing that disgusting smirk on the woman's face. That sadistic smirk practically everyone in the wasteland wore. A symbol of hated, of bloodlust.

"What's with you? Can't you be happy at the fact that you're -I don't know- alive?" Yang conceited.

"What, you really assume that was my first run-in with Atlas?" Cinder shook her head, "And why would I give you an answer?"

"Because." Ruby stated flatly.

Cinder chuckled, "That isn't a proper-." Cinder trailed off, wincing in pain at a sudden stinging sensation in her knee. The woman lurched forward and placed her gloved hand over the tourniquet Ruby had made.

From the corner of her eye, Ruby watched as Cinder brought her hand back up, "Mmh, lovely." Cinder muttered. The crimsonette turned her focus to Cinder and was washed over with worry at seeing the blood soaked fabric of Cinder's glove.

"We need to stop."

Yang cut in again, "Sis that's not really a good-"

"We're not stopping." Cinder groaned.

"No you're not. Your injury might be infected."

"How?" Yang asked, perking forward again.

"I'm stopping so I can show you." Without confirmation from Cinder, the crimsonette yanked the wheel to the side, and pulled the car onto a sand-laden outcropping to the side of the dusty path. In her mirror, she could see the accompanying car do much of the same.

"Are you out of your mind? Atlas is on our heels." Cinder seethed.

"Lemme see it." Ruby practically demanded.

"Get. Driving."

"Ugh, why're you so difficult? Your gloves."

"What about them?"

Ruby reached out for Cinder's knee, "You touched your wound with them."

That was all Ruby needed to say before Cinder allowed the girl to take another look at it. The younger girl unzipped Cinder's boot and rolled up her pant leg to get a better look at it.

A sudden knock on the hood of the car tore hers, as well as Yang and Cinder's, attention away from the shot wound. It was Mercury, with Emerald standing next to him.

"What's the hold up?" He called out. "Thought she was fine?"

"See, I told you guys it wasn't the best of ideas to snatch them." Roman cut in from behind.

Emerald shot her body around and stared the man down, "It was your idea you lying sack of shit!" It was clear Emerald had enough of both Mercury and Roman for one day.

"You guys aren't really fitting the bill of organized crime." A certain blonde cut in. Yang had squeezed out of the rear of the rally car, and walked up to the bickering trio. Leaving Ruby to tend to Cinder's injury.

"Ah, what's it to you? You'll probably be dead before sunrise," Roman cackled. "When Cinder's all good, she'll put you and your little friend in a nice shallow grave," The man made a wide gesture to the area around them, "There's plenty of dirt to do it with."

"And then us..." Emerald muttered.

"So why haven't you, shot me yet? Thought you're in charge." Yang smirked.

"I'm not an idiot, blondie. You and little red have made yourselves useful, and considering we're down an entire bandit crew; your help is delaying your deaths just a tiny bit longer." The orange-haired man explained.

"You're with us... for now. Should've ran when you had the chance." Emerald added.

Yang turned her gaze back to the matte-black car Ruby and Cinder were in, the stark realization slowly sank in. Roman was right, Cinder would simply use Ruby and herself as expenditures until no longer needed. Then she'd toss them in the nearest ditch and go on with her life. Moreover, it angered Yang to no end how helpless the situation was. If she tried to run -they'd kill her. She was forced to accept her likely demise. Not to mention Ruby's.

The second thing Yang couldn't believe was the fact that Ruby was aiding the ruthless person that they should be running from. But deep down, Yang knew the answer as to why. Her sister was tough to a degree, independent, with an angelic motive hardwired into her soul. Ruby was always helping when she could. Most times it was just her second nature, but other times it was the basic fact that she wanted to prove to those around her that she's a capable young woman -not some puny girl

'Is that why she's helping Cinder?'

Yang scanned that thought over twice, quickly making another realization. Either Ruby was just being nice, or her help was an attempt to prove Cinder wrong -that she's more than capable. And in the long-run; prevent hers and Yang's deaths.

"Ah! Sorry sorry sorry sorry..." Ruby's pitched voice cried out from behind. Yang, as well as Roman, Mercury, and Emerald, all focused on the car. There, it looked as though Ruby was acting as Cinder's crutch again, but upon helping her out of the car, Cinder bumped her head on the door frame.

Cinder simply huffed as Ruby helped her limp over to the rest of the group.

"We getting rid of these two yet?" Mercury directed his question to Cinder. The ex bandit leader nodded to Ruby, and the crimsonette began, "We've got a problem."

"What is it? Is she alright?" Emerald said, genuinely concerned.

"Not really no. Her wound got some… stuff in it, and, long story short; it's infected."

"And...?" Roman's tone portrayed he was more annoyed than concerned.

"If it's left to long, she'll get gangrene. We need to get some proper medical attention to it." Ruby announced. She received a variation of responses. A frown from Mercury, a fretful gaze from Emerald, and an eye-roll from Roman.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" Mercury questioned.

"There's a settlement, uh, not to far from here. I can get the supplies-"

"No, no. There's somewhere better." Cinder said, completely ignoring Ruby. Her gaze shifted to Roman, "The safehouse. You didn't lose track of that, did you?"

Roman gave an affirmative nod, "Should be secure. I had Perry and a few others keep an eye on it."

The ebony-haired woman sighed in relief. "The only thing you didn't screw up today..."

"Sorry, Safehouse?" Yang cut in, feeling left out.

Mercury gave the blonde an undermining look, "It's an old run-down radio tower, about a hundred clicks from here. There's a small building there, with a cache of supplies in it."

Yang ignored Mercury's snarky attitude. She crossed her arms above her chest and looked quizzically at Cinder, the remainder of the group doing much the same.

"We'll go." Cinder answered to their stares. For a moment she felt a sliver of empowerment, all to be taken away by the pain in her leg. Ruby rushed up to be her human crutch again, but the woman shoved her off and limped to the passenger side of the desert vehicle.

The crimsonette was quickly becoming fed-up with Cinder's inhospitable personality. She adjusted the goggles on her head, and resumed her spot in the drivers seat. Yang climbed in not soon after.

She kicked the vehicle to life. Waiting for Mercury's 'go ahead' signal in her cracked mirror. One she saw the okay; she led them out of the outcropping, and off the sand dusted road. Trailblazing towards their new target.

As the redhead drove, Cinder eyed her intently. Every so often she could see Ruby's eyes glance over before snapping back to the road ahead. Cinder smiled, clearly she was making the girl uncomfortable.

Her nature didn't allow her to pull any form of fun from it however. As they headed to the safehouse; the loss she just faced slowly started to sink in. Everything that transpired today... was dizzying. Of all times for Mercury, Emerald, and Roman to mess up, it just had to be today. The woman glanced down at herself: covered in dirt. Her shoulder plate; a relic from the past she'd rather not dwell on, completely scratched and scuffed, making her trademark crest unintelligible. Every move she made sent a sharp pain up her right side, accompanied by what felt like extreme exhaustion.

No crew to back her up, no place to lay down roots, and the biggest and baddest group in the wasteland on her ass.

'What a lovely day.'

Deep down she felt somewhat happy at still being in one piece. Ruby and Yang certainly know how to handle themselves, almost impressive.

Almost.

Cinder wasn't quite sure what to make of the so-called sisters. Given the situation, she decided to keep them for their expendability.

'Who knows... Ruby does seem... malleable.'

Cinder turned her attention away from the girl and focused on the vast expanse out the car's window. All but one thing crossing her mind now;

'I need a drink.'

######

Hours later, the sun settled. Now following Mercury's vehicle, Ruby kept the car's lights off, allowing them to maintain a low profile. It also provided an undisturbed view of the evening sky; deep indigo with various stripes of orange and red. It was one of the few times the crimsonette could call this godforsaken hellhole, pretty.

Well, technically the sky wasn't the land, so the land was still pretty crap.

"Sis, hey sis, look," Yang perked up from behind. Deciding she was going slow enough, Ruby humored her sister and looked over, "What?" She asked.

"Now is the chance to get out of here, she's sleeping." Yang whispered, pointing to Cinder. The woman rested to one side, her head against the vehicles roll frame. Her goggles masking her eyes.

Ruby wasn't quite sure if Yang had been joking. She gave her wild sister a blank stare, knowing what was coming, "Yang, no."

The blonde didn't hear her sister's remark. She dug back in the seat and fished her bowie knife from its sheath, a sadistic smirk on her face.

"Yang!" Ruby whisper-shrieked, grabbing ahold of the blonde's wrist and pushing it back, "What're you doing? We're not gonna kill her."

"What? Why?"

"Because," Ruby paled. She felt herself get a little angry at Yang's behavior. It drew her mind to how they got wrapped up in this mess to begin with, "Really? It never stops with you, does it?"

"Rubes, I was just tryin' to-"

"To what? Dig our graves a little faster? You got us into this mess, and now you wanna make it worse?!" The crimsonette's tone raised. Honestly she didn't care if Cinder woke up from it.

"Okay okay, sis I'll-"

The girl's reply was to grip the wheel tighter, "No, don't 'Okay sis' me. You say that every time we get into these messes, but nothing ever changes Yang. Each time this happens I get... scared..."

Yang's expression sank at Ruby's outburst, "Of?"

"Every job we've done in the past year has gotten more and more dangerous. I'm just afraid of losing you, okay?"

The blonde's expression went even more somber, "Oh... Ruby, I'm sorry... I-"

"You don't have to apologize. Just promise me; no more crazy jobs, please?" Ruby spoke. She was hoping Yang had learned some form of a lesson at this point.

"I promise."

"Pinky promise?" The redhead held out her hand.

Their fingers locked, "Pinky promise." The blonde smiled, 'Typical Ruby.'

The crimson-haired sniper let go of Yang's hand. As her attention focused back to the way ahead; she saw the lead car begin to slow down. With the small amount of light that fluttered over the valley, Ruby could make out the silhouette of a safehouse. Resting atop a small cliff a mere three meters in height was a fenced-in concrete building, next to it, a radio tower half toppled over.

She took the notion to swing the car around the opposite side, next to the fence gates. Her stormy eyes investigated the building further, raising an eyebrow at how abandoned it looked. A decent pile of sand and dust had swept up near the main door, a clear indicator of vacancy.

The car ground to a halt, and she slipped outside. Yang followed suit, but decided to have a little fun with the still slumbering Cinder. She paced over to the passenger side of the car and planted her head right next to the woman's ear. With a wink to Ruby, she woke her up.

"Ah! We're under attack!" She shouted. Cinder's response was immediate.

"Where?!" The woman lurched forward, head and eyes darting around. Once she deemed there was no danger; her piercing amber eyes landed on Yang.

"What is wrong with you?" She spat, making her way out of the vehicle.

The blonde shrugged, "False alarm," she resisted the urge to giggle at Cinder's haphazard attempt to get out of the car with her bad knee.

A few seconds later, the remaining trio of the group joined them. Mercury looked bored, Emerald watched Cinder with worry, and Roman did a trademark eye-roll.

"Is... is she gonna be okay?" Emerald's voice cracked with more worry.

Ruby gave the dual-wielder a comforting look, "She'll be fine as long as I get the stuff I need."

"Right." The viridian-themed girl nodded.

Mercury made a gagging noise, 'Give her your blood, why don't you.' He joked internally. The shotgunner received a death glare from his partner, he shrugged nonchalantly and turned to go open the door to the safehouse -Emerald following along.

The remaining four looked fell silent. Roman, obviously not wanting to be here, pulled out his revolver and began fiddling with the cylinder. It clicked and spun as she whistled tunelessly.

Cinder felt a headache coming on, her tired eyes glared up at her 'prized' lieutenant, "Roman, for the love of Grimm, please be quiet."

The man flicked the cylinder back into place, "Bitch..." He muttered under his breath.

The souring of the woman's expression must've meant she heard his comment, "Excuse me?"

"What? I was just-"

"HEY! You guys might wanna see this!"

All heads turned to the shout of Mercury's voice. Roman rushed over, followed by Ruby and Yang, then Cinder. The silver-haired boy made a face at Roman, "You're in trou-ble."

"Shut up, punk. What's all the noise about?"

Emerald exited from the building, she switched the flashlights on her pistols off and gave Cinder a sheepish grin, "There's... no one here. Perry and his guys left, uh, months ago..."

Cinder's eyebrow twitched, "Okay, just to make sure I'm not having a stroke, repeat that back to me." She glared daggers at Roman, the man looking like he was ready to run.

"Well... how about you read this instead?" She plaused, handing her beautiful but pissed-off boss a dingy piece of paper. Reluctantly, Cinder unfurled it and began to read;

Dear Bitch, This place sucks. We may or may not be taking our supply run as an excuse to leave. We're done working for you and that idiot Roman. -Sincerely, Perry and the gang.

P.S. We took all the safehouse supplies with us. Have fun.

"Dammit!" Cinder cursed, crumpling the note and throwing it at Roman, "Morons..." At this point in the game, she was too tired to lash out at anyone, "There's nothing left?"

"Nothing..." the dark-skinned girl bowed her head, like she was taking the blame.

"Look," Ruby cut in, "It's not the end of the world, I just need to think..."

Roman began fiddling with his revolver again, "Is the condition of Cinder's leg, really that big a deal?"

"Like I said, she'll get gangrene if we don't treat it. Unless you'd like to amputate that is." The crimsonette chided, "Let's just get inside... for now."

It was an idea no one could really argue with. The group of six filed into the building one by one, leaving the door slightly ajar to allow some form of light in. With what the light provided, Ruby made out the contents of the small room. A reloading bench, a set of cots, and a few chairs centred around what looked like an abandoned poker table. Her head perked to the door, watching Mercury step out with Roman for what looked like a smoke. The faint flickering of a lighter confirmed her suspicions.

'At each other's throats one minute –sharing a smoke the next. Weird.'

Her attention went back to the room. Cinder had taken a sitting residence on one of the cots –chatting up Emerald. She paid them no mind and glanced at Yang, the blonde was currently doing inventory to scavenge what remained supply wise.

"Blondie," She heard Cinder call, "Get over here."

The blonde turned, "Can you say please?"

"I'd rather not." The woman snarled.

Ruby eyed on as Yang took a few steps over, knowing she only obliged because she had too, "With that attitude, I'm not surprised that Perry guy left."

"Do not push me," Cinder pointed, "Lemme see your shotgun."

"Over my dead body." Yang took a sharp step forward. Eyes boring down on Cinder.

Amber eyes narrowed, "You sure? Why not be a good girl before you do end up dead."

Ruby saw the redlining tension. Arbitrarily, she stepped in. Gently pushing Yang off and looking down at Cinder's less than amused face, "Why do you need the gun?"

"Well because Emerald doesn't have her medical supplies, and nor does this safehouse; I have to make some." The ebony-haired woman explained.

Yang made a funny face, "Come again?"

"Ugh..." Cinder sighed, "The shells in your gun are incendiary, yes?"

"Yes."

"If mixed with rubbing alcohol, the solution is good for cleaning wounds. It also helps speed up the healing process..." The woman droned like it was common knowledge.

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

Ruby thought about it for a moment, "That... actually makes sense. In small doses, red dust is used as a disinfectant. But... what's the alcohol for?"

"Because the dust I'm about to use isn't medical-grade. The alcohol will make a barrier from doing any unnecessary damage to my skin."

Realization dawned on Ruby, "Ooh." The girl felt a little crestfallen. She wanted to be the one that could help Cinder's injury, but it looks as of the woman's medical expertise shadowed her own. It made sense though. Cinder scoffed at every attempt Ruby had made to tend to her injury, and she was probably waiting for a moment like this where she could do it herself as another way to shun the crimsonette off.

"Fine," Yang spat. She pulled the release on the top mounted magazine, and eyed Cinder, "How many shells?"

"One." The reply she got from Yang was a shell landing on the floor. Emerald raced to pick it up, already moving to the bench to pull it apart. Ruby was going to ask where she'd get the alcohol, but it seemed like the woman already had a plan, "Roman!" She shouted. Through the door stepped the man in question, along with Mercury. The elder of the duo tossed his cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out before addressing Cinder.

"We leaving?"

"No, I need your flask."

Roman looked puzzled, "Huh?"

Cinder's wit was really being pushed now, "Don't play games. I know you carry a flask with you."

"Alright alright... sheesh," The sharpshooter dug inside the right pockets of his trench coat –producing a small bronze-embroidered flask, "What's it for?"

Cinder paid him no mind. She undid the buckles on her boot and kicked it off, followed by sliding her pant-leg up. She then tore off a small bit of her sleeve as something for the alcohol to go into. Just as she was about to get to work, Yang spoke up.

"Isn't that uh, gonna hurt like a bitch?"

"Let's see, shall we?" The woman replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. Cinder tied the small bit of sleeve into a few knots and dabbed it into the flask. Slowly, she began cleaning her wound. Without so much as a flinch, she grabbed the extracted dust from Emerald and rubbed it on as well –she gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply, resisting the urge to cuss.

It honestly hurt quite a bit.

With that done, she didn't want to waste anymore time. Atlas was still on their heels. She tore off another small strip of her sleeve and tied it around the wound. Slipping her boot back on, and readying to leave. Cinder internally cursed herself. Ruby had been right about the wound getting infected, but her own denial to it could've been avoided if she listened to her conscience and tended to it earlier. Denial over losing everything. All to the people she hated most.

"So, where to boss?" Mercury asked. Her stood by the door, arms crossed, looking as impatient as ever.

"There's a town we can lay low in... East of here."

A certain blonde holstered her shotgun, "All that's around here are bandit towns." She spoke sceptically.

"You're from the North, what would you know?" She seethed.

Ruby ushered Yang to follow along. The group of six left the building and returned to the duo of off-road vehicles. This time, Cinder took the helm of the lead car, with Ruby riding shotgun and Yang in the back again. The crimsonette stole a few glances at the ebony-haired woman's face. She looked beat, determined, and pissed off all at the same time. It was admirable... in a weird way. For her endurance to hold up for this long.

She shook that thought off and slumped in her seat, giving a small sigh of relief.

"You're still alive... nothing to worry about. Everything is fine."

######

Ruby wasn't sure what time it was when they got close to this so-called 'town'. Judging by how long the sun has been down for; she assumed it was close, or just after, midnight.

They were back on the salt-flats again, meaning their entire trip today made a large loop around where this fiasco had started. In the distance, her eyes spotted a typical looking bandit shanty town that resembled practically every other settlement she's seen. Including her home town.

Suddenly, the headlights flicked on. Ruby turned her gaze to Cinder, the woman's eyes plastered to the road. Completely focused and unblinking.

The lights caught a reflective outline coming on up their left. Ruby trained her eyes and realized it was a makeshift sign for the town. The rusty, bullet ridden, slate read;

'The Bakdoor, Populashin: 60-ish'

The redhead stifled a laugh, 'Definitely a bandit town.'

Said town came into full view now. Completely dark and devoid of its inhabitants. It was a simple layout. A main dirt road running up the middle with several branches of smaller paths coming from it. The only sign of life was a neon sign down the main stretch –most likely a bar.

"All this place needs is a stereotypical tumbleweed. There's no one here." Yang piped up.

Cinder was about to answer, but from her mirror she saw Mercury pull the second car over. He likely picked up on the town's desolation as well. She did much the same, but pulled over to the opposite side of the street.

In the other car, Emerald was the first to climb out. She's yet to visit this town before. It's silence made her skin crawl. She withdrew Beryl and Basilisk just to be safe. The sound of two guns clicking behind her said her compatriots did the exact same.

Her crimson eyes looked to Roman, the man walked nonchalantly, continuing to fiddle with his revolver.

"This is so fun, isn't it?" He spoke sarcastically.

Mercury paced around the car, gun down, "You got a better plan?"

Roman tutted, "I remember when you would kick and fight every order Cin gave you, now you're just spineless."

"Shut-it, I'm pretty sure whatever plan you have would get us all killed." The silver-haired one shot back.

"So no mutiny then?" Roman joked.

"Not with you." Emerald cut in.

"Psh," Roman chuckled, "You're only staying for the view," He raised his hand and pointed at Cinder.

"W-Whatever." She turned away, hiding a blush.

"Boss!" Mercury called, ignoring both Roman and Emerald. Cinder turned her head, "There's no one here!" He shouted again, slowly walking over to the other three.

"You think they heard about the attack, and just left?"

"No," Cinder said in a near whisper, "Something's not right here." She set herself down on a small crate by the edge of the road, the pain in her knee was still there, but less in intensity.

"No shit..." Yang muttered.

Roman raised his revolver and pointed at the neon sign from earlier. It was bright green, the letters reading 'Drinks' with a half burnt out 'k'.

"I'm down for a drink." Mercury added.

Emerald promptly facepalmed, Yang shrugged, Ruby looked nervous.

"You three," Cinder pointed at Mercury, Emerald and Roman, "Stay out here and watch the doors." She slowly stood up, ushering Ruby and Yang to follow her. Roman and Mercury both groaned, reluctantly following along until they reached the saloon doors to the bar. Cinder gave them a small nod and pushed the weak piece of wood open, Ruby and Yang followed suit. They stepped into the bar, dim lights illuminated a small room. There was an L-shaped bar counter in the far right corner with various flavours on its shelves, centred around that was several stools, and miniature tables littered the room.

Gun at the ready, Ruby felt a little inadequate for the situation. Her sniper, Morningstar, wasn't exactly the weapon of choice for close quarters. Her blade, Crescent Rose, sat snug in its holster. However her skill with that was nowhere near as good as with Morningstar.

The sound of a floorboard creaking got her attention. Odd, as none of them had been moving. Ruby made the mistake of turning her attention to the doors, the cool feel of a barrel being pressed to the back of her neck was a good measure of how bad that mistake was.

"Don't make a move girlie." A foul tone growled.

From her peripheral vision, Ruby could barely make out the assailant. But from the darker rear of the room, as well as from behind booths and tables came several more of them.

Bandits.

"Ruby!" Yang called in fear, only to be put in the same stipulation as her sister.

Two more bandits went for Cinder. The both of them had their Goliath brand LMG's trained on her.

"Guys! We got an issue!" Mercury shouted to his compatriots. Coming from three directions across the streets were groups of bandits. Producing themselves from the darkened buildings and side alleys. Each one of them held their rifles, pistols, and shotguns at the ready. Clad in fear-instilling helmets, goggles, masks, and clothes stained with patches of blood. Mercury's senses were immediately filled with the dingy smell of gunpowder and booze. He crouched down and placed First-Matter on the railing as a stand. Emerald stood fast next to him; both pistols at the ready.

As usual, Roman looked like he could care less.

From the middle of the centre group came a typical looking bandit. The only notable thing about his appearance was a small dumb-looking top-hat on his head. He pushed through and stood a mere five feet from where Mercury and his half of the group were.

"Put'cher guns down!" He shouted, "Ya'll are outnumbered!" His walk took a slight zigzag, almost as if he was inebriated.

"Shit..." Mercury heard his dark-skinned companion mutter. He rolled his eyes, "This day just gets better and better.

"I'm the mayor of this here town! Now... put'cher guns down or I will get my boys to shoot you!"

Reluctant as hell, Mercury, Emerald and Roman complied. As he set his silver-plated gun down; he turned to the inside of the building –only to see several bandits inside as well.

The self-proclaimed 'Mayor' strutted his way past them and pushed into the bar. Trailing him was a group of bandits that took Mercury's groups guns away, and stood by as guards.

Back inside the bar, the Mayor continued his walk. He stopped as soon as he saw Cinder: hands held behind her back by a duo of attackers, "Whoo!" He thundered in humour, "You're gonna make us rich!"

Cinder scrunched her face at the arced stench coming from the man, "Step off you half-wit."

'SMACK!'

Cinder reeled back a bit as the Mayor's hand came down on her cheek, "You kiss your mother with that mouth?" The Mayor patted his long jacket down. Going through each individual pocket before finding what he was after. Her snapped his fingers and the bandits holding Cinder slammed her down onto the bar counter. The woman groaned loudly, spitting out a bit of blood as she regained her bearings.

"C'mon... I thought we were friends?" She joked. Only to earn her a solid knee to the ribs.

The Mayor unfurled a piece of paper and held it in front of her face. Cinder could barely make out the words in the dim room, but what she did read... was something she refused to believe was real.

Below a picture of her face read:

'WANTED: CINDER FALL'

'Calling all bounty hunters for the capture of bandit leader known as Cinder Fall, under the counts of Theft, Arson, Murder, War Crimes, Profanity, Public Indecency, Cannibalism, & being general pain to Atlas. She must be brought in ALIVE to claim the reward.'

'REWARD: 500,000 Lien'

'As if this day couldn't get any worse... leave it to Atlas to spread the news this quick... half of those charges are illegitimate anyway!'

Cinder droned internally. She knew the delay at the safehouse would come back to bite her later on. She just didn't know it could've been this quick.

"Now..." The Mayor cackled, "You're gonna tell me what them words say. Last time one of these paper things came through the town; we killed the guy and got paid for it. We're lookin' to do the same this time. We ain't dumb. Saw ya'll coming in those cars from miles away. You looked like the lady in the picture so we made a trap ya'll fell right into, haha!"

Cinder laughed, but immediately regretted it as she felt herself get pushed down harder.

"Don't play games, we don't like games," The bandit Mayor raised his Goliath pistol, "Read it to me, and don't go lyin' or taking advantage because we ain't the strongest of readers!"

If she was going to die today, she at least wanted to get some fun out of it. Cinder raised an eyebrow and began to 'read'.

"Well looks like you have a mix-up here gentlemen. The words say that this is obviously a missing persons poster."

"Liar! If I know one word it's Lien, and I see it right there."

"Oh that? It's just...

"It's a fine if any harm comes to her." Ruby piped up from the left side of the room.

"Yeah, that's true." Yang added in.

Cinder smiled at the help of the two sisters. Maybe they could be of use...

"Huh? Ya'll are liars." The Mayor's voice slipped, sounding a little less intimidating.

"Time to put on a show, Fall." Cinder breathed a quiet sigh, "No..." Her voice sounded low and sad, "It's just... my parents have been looking for me for the longest time... and I-" Her voice cracked, "I just want to go home..." The ebony-haired woman sniffed like she was crying.

"Who're these other guys then?"

"Bodyguards I... hired to help me..."

Yang smirked at Cinder's little show, "How sly..."

The bandit backed off, not wanting to 'infringe' on what was in front of him, "Oh... oh I'm sorry there ma'am, your family must really miss you, huh?" the Mayor backed off. Her held his arms out and gestured for his fellow bandits to lower their guns.

"Yeah, they do..."

"Men, let em' go. They're just trying to get home."

Ruby sighed in relief as she was let from her vice-grip. The bandit gave her a gate but handed Morningstar back.

"Look, is there anything we can do to help? We're really sorry about that exchange there."

"Yes, you can," Cinder stood straight and talked at the Mayor. She couldn't see his eyes beyond his goggles, but his body language radiated trepidation, "We need a place to stay and some medical supplies."

"Sure, sure. Roger!" He yelled to a tall bandit outside, "Show our guests to the motel!"

Cinder made a sly grin when the Mayor turned away. 'Bandit stupidity us the best thing to mess with.'

######

"I still can't believe that actually worked." Emerald said to Cinder. A mere twenty minutes later, they had been given two small rooms in the towns motel. It was shady living, but at least it was shelter. It still made Cinder unsure whether the floor was safer to sleep on then the bed.

"Have a little faith Emerald." The woman replied. She watched Emerald work her magic on tending to her knee. The bandits actually had the medical supplies necessary to properly patch things up. For real this time. Emerald's medical expertise was one of the best in the group, but when it came to tense situations like back at the safehouse; her mind goes blank with worry.

"And done, it should be better by morning." The dark-skinned girl pulled back, proud of her work on Cinder's knee.

Ruby had been chatting up Yang on the other side of the room, just by the small door frame. Cinder eyed both girls intently. Still surprised at how they both backed her up with the silly lie from earlier. On top of that, they both proved themselves as formidable combatants, better than most she's seen in her twenty-six years on this hellhole of a planet. Still, she wasn't sure where their intentions lie, so she'd be keeping them around by methods of fear for now.

Plus she wasn't going to lie to herself, Ruby was quite the looker too. Maybe it was her desensitized outlook when it came to women, considering the fact that she hardly ever saw any. Regardless, Ruby was pretty.

But there was more pressing matters to attend to. Atlas has got a bounty out on her already. Leaving the 'lay-low' option out of the equation.

"Hey, uh, Cinder?" Yang approached the woman. A weary look on her face.

"What is it?"

The blonde had a copy of the bounty in her hand, "Just to be safe, this Cannibalism charge is a discrepancy, right?"

The woman sighed. On a good day she probably would've played along and said it was true. But she was too tired for games. "No. It's a lie. I mean, look at the last one: 'Being general pain to Atlas'. It's standard for Atlas to put those charges in high ranking bounties."

"That's a relief." The blonde sighed.

Cinder raised an eyebrow, "Did you really think that I chow down on humans for fun?"

"Kinda, you're not exactly the most predictable person."

"Whatever, just go." Cinder shushed the blonde off. She was even too tired to put Yang in her place.

Slowly getting overcome by exhaustion; Cinder leaned back on the bed. Though she was tired, she doubted she'd get any sleep tonight. And probably for many nights to come.

She didn't want to live like this. In constant fear.

She didn't need equations or questions.

She wants a solution.

And she wants it now.

A/N There it is. Sorry of it was clunky at times, but I really wanted it out of the way so I can get my hands on the good parts of the story where we'll finally get to see some shipping action start lol.

REMEMBER that this is going to be a long fic, so things will be slower than normal.

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of rwby, so I apologize if there's discrepancies compared to what you're used to from me. I'm trying hard to get back to how things were.

I'll see you all soon I hope! Mega thanks and brownie-points for reading, following, fav'ing, and reviewing!