What Embers Remain

By A Stereotypical Gamer

Chapter One: Light of the Soul

The forests of Anima were hard to navigate, but for Cinder, it was home. The journey to Mistral was treacherous only on the first foray; afterwards, it was just a long walk. The Grimm had their territory, the few remaining villages had their walls, and the bandits had their scattered strongholds. As she raced through the woods with Mercury and Emerald, each tree she passed reminded her of the past, when she'd trained in these forests when venturing outside of Haven.

Haven… where the silver-eyed girl had taken residence, waiting patiently for her uncle Qrow Branwen to recover from Tyrian's poison. That the old drunk had survived was further testament to Tyrian's failure, but at least he was removed as an obstacle. Had he been present, even the three of them may not have been enough to defeat the group. They had to strike while he was incapacitated.

Salem had made this a priority. Even though Cinder was still injured, Salem reasoned that with her subordinates she could defeat the four former Beacon students, so long as the silver-eyed Ruby Rose was isolated from Cinder and she was not exposed to the powers again. This would likely be their only chance to capture her while she was in Mistral, because Lionheart had flatly refused to assist them in their snatch and grab: that wasn't part of the pact he'd made, and he didn't want his hand to be exposed.

Watts had also flatly refused to help. Salem assured him that Cinder would be successful, and she felt confident she would be. Mercury and Emerald would divert attention and focus on Ruby Rose and the girl with the hammer and the boy in green, while Cinder would quickly dispose of the boy Jaune Arc and then rejoin her subordinates and overwhelm their foes.

With the CCT down, they had to make use of on the ground intelligence. Now that the fivesome had reached the city, they'd been keeping to their inn and to local restaurants and grocers while Qrow recovered. Cinder assumed an attack on a living space would be noticed by other guests and patrons, and they'd draw unwanted attention from law enforcement. But they couldn't afford to wait too long; they might miss their window.

However, opportunity did present itself, when Ruby Rose and two of her three allies did depart to gather their meals later in the day than usual. The streets were lighter with foot traffic, and Emerald could easily conceal Mercury's attacks, possibly even convince law enforcement to target the Beacon kids instead. And that left both Qrow and Jaune Arc alone and vulnerable in the inn. Cinder could simply assassinate both of them, thus saving her mistress a lot of trouble in the future by permanently closing the last eye.

Cinder gave the signal, and Mercury and Emerald moved to stalk their prey. Cinder had been a bit unsteady on her feet after months of injury and a slow, uneven recovery, but she remembered how to move silently and infiltrate. Based on the inn's registry, they'd been assigned a second floor room with a view of the kingdom. Not ideal, but if she moved quickly any witnesses would be confused at best.

She wanted to set Qrow Branwen alight, to unleash the fire raging within her. When she hated something, she always felt better about turning it to ash. The downside to her pyromancy was the feeling of intensity that tinted her emotions, exacerbated by the incomplete Aura transfer before. Cinder believed that once she'd absorbed all the powers of the Fall Maiden, she'd ease the pain within her, appeasing the roaring fires with a hearty meal.

Instead, the wounds Ruby Rose inflicted left her an entirely new pain, and the suffering caused by her defeat and subsequent humiliation created a far more potent wrath within her: a hatred that burned brightly and had no target to be vented upon in the presence of her mistress and seated at her table. Now, she had a target she could incinerate, and the pain would be lessened by sharing her fury with someone else.

She found the assigned room and crept slowly inward, still trying to find a groove in her pace and stance. She'd found some confidence in returning to Mistral and revisiting her stomping grounds after so much time in Salem's castle, but now that the time had come to experience real battle again, she felt clay in her feet.

She could not doubt. If she completed her task quickly, this attack would go off without a hitch. She would capture Ruby Rose, and prove her worth to Salem, succeeding where Tyrian had failed, and erasing her own failure in the eyes of her mistress. Even Watts might be silenced upon seeing Cinder triumphant.

Salem had expressed concerns about Cinder before, feeling Cinder lacked the necessary drive to play the part her mistress had in mind. Cinder had assuaged Salem's concerns by burning a facsimile of Ruby Rose over and over, scorching the castle floor again and again for hours, showing her commitment to revenge, and gaining the blessing of her mistress once again.

All that remained was to kill two helpless lambs.

Cinder slowly opened the door, careful not to make it creak, careful to keep her breathing short and swift. She saw the boy Jaune Arc sitting at the bedside, keeping vigil over the sleeping Qrow. All she had to do was flick her wrists, and she could burn them both away.

She liked the sight of Jaune. When she'd been sick, he'd sat at her bedside like that. Nora had shown her a picture she took on her Scroll, and she'd used it as a wallpaper for weeks-

What? That… what was that? Which one was Nora? And why would Jaune Arc attend to a Haven exchange student at his school for the tournament?

It was a vague, incomplete thought: a memory fractured after the silver explosion she'd been exposed to. It was not surprising this boy had been kind, even to someone he didn't know. That was what his upbringing had crafted him to be. He helped others without thought of reward, because helping others was a reward.

His kindness was a weakness, and it was his undoing. His concern for her life had been what allowed Cinder to infiltrate the vault beneath Beacon, and stolen the Aura that she had volunteered to take into her-

No, that was wrong. She had stolen it, when opportunity presented itself, when the boy had been distracted by his concern for her, when his affection had cost them all, and the villains had completed their objective-

Villains?! What was this madness? She had to stop allowing these conflicting thoughts to trouble her, she had to act, while his back was turned. She was already overdue for completing the attack on the students.

He turned, looking at her with those piercing blue eyes. Cinder enjoyed nothing more than looking into them, ruffling his blonde locks to show she was proud of him…

No… that had never-

"You!" Jaune shouted, immediately reaching down to the bedside and hoisting up his family heirloom, Crocea Mors, which had quite an impressive crest now emblazoned upon it. Wait, how had she known it was an heirloom? How had she known his weapon had a name?

She tried to summon the fires raging within her, but she could not lift her hand. How could she harm him? How could she ever raise a hand to him, knowing she'd see pain in those eyes?

Jaune moved to attack, unsheathing his blade with such speed and precision. He'd clearly practiced; the last time he'd tried to unsheathe and attack in succession he'd tripped over himself and stumbled right past her. She wondered if he'd listened to the recording she'd left for him-

No, that was wrong! All of this was wrong! He was nothing but a small, insignificant impediment! She could destroy him with ease!

She'd stood in the light of his Aura, embracing him for the first time. When she saw the cut on his cheek heal, she'd felt the pulse of his soul, echoing through her fingertips. In stepping into the light of his soul, she'd felt warmth. And in that moment, there had been no more pain. She was drawn to the light, as though drawn into his magnetic field, and found her energy complemented his. When they stood together in the Emerald Forest, and she spoke the words to him-

THAT NEVER HAPPENED! She had never been to the Emerald Forest, why was she remembering holding Jaune in her arms, and feeling light pour into her?!

She barely raised her hand, summoning glass shards embedded in her dress to form a crude barrier, her body moving on instinct to deflect his attack. It was fortunate she had not forgotten that, if nothing else. Her muscle memory saved her from defeat at the hands of another novice.

Cinder tried to constitute a second weapon from the glass, to forge a blade or a bow and disarm him. Yet she could not compel the Dust to move in her fingertips. She could not do anything that would do him harm. She hated even to spar with him, because sometimes, no matter how much punishment he took and how she loved to see him improve, she knew she could accidentally overdo it and he might be hurt-

Cinder had gone mad! There was no other explanation. Salem had warned her that drawing upon the Aura of the Fall Maiden would affect her mind, that she'd be struck by contradictory emotions, experiencing the strongest memories as vividly as though they were her own. There had been times, during her recovery, Cinder had dreams she had not understood, of formless, invisible pain… but she buried it beneath the fire, smothering it under licks of flame, knowing her hate would be stronger.

Yet now… yet now…

How could she hate him? How could anyone? How could Weiss not see what she saw so clearly?

Weiss? The heiress? What did she have to do with- Cinder held the thought as she raised her shield again, stepping back into the hall from the force of his attack. He may not have had much technique, but this boy was strong.

That was to be expected, he was a farmer. He was the only boy of eight children, and carried the burden when his sisters could not- HOW DID SHE KNOW THAT?! WHY DID SHE KNOW THAT?!

Jaune recognized he'd failed to break her barrier, and re-sheathed his sword, only to reveal some new transformation in his weapon, giving Crocea Mors two blades, the shield transforming to give him a greatsword. With a swing, he shattered Cinder's glass barrier and drove her to the hallway floor.

He leveled the blade to her throat. She'd been surprised by some of his attacks before, and were he a more experienced fighter she might've been defeated at certain points… but he'd never outright bested her. She couldn't have been more proud of him, for attaining this height.

Why was she proud of her enemy? No, less than her enemy, her impediment?! What was wrong with her?! Was she really so weak?!

Jaune held the blade to her neck. He could easily kill her. "What you did… what you did to Pyrrha, and Ozpin, and the Fall Maiden… you deserve this."

He wasn't exactly wrong. She had earned death. She'd rushed to it, really… because it had always been her destiny to fight the darkness, and like all huntresses before her, die at its hand.

No, she was meant for power and glory! She was meant to surpass Salem and take her place as the most powerful woman in the world! Not some ignominious death at the hands of an amateur! This wasn't how things were meant to happen; this wasn't how things were supposed to end!

"Do you have anything you want to say first?" Jaune asked her, before looking to the side, no longer meeting her eye.

He wasn't able to do it. He never looked her in the eye when he had to disappoint her. She was grateful for it; his pain always became her pain.

She could kill him, right now. Even prone, she could set him ablaze and be done. Mercury and Emerald must've found their targets by now, and the more important battle would require her attention.

But she could not harm him. Just as he would not harm her. No matter how he postured, he wouldn't harm a helpless, defeated opponent. He did not hate. He did not embrace the darkness when it seeped into his soul; he burned it away with his light.

When she'd prepared to sacrifice herself, Jaune had tried to dissuade her, or even accompany her to the fight, even though he'd be outmatched. And she knew he would die… she didn't care that she would die, so long as he didn't.

She needed a way to silence him. And she knew she may have no other chance to let him know the truth.

So she kissed him. Even with the weight of the world coming down on her shoulders, even with her friends in danger and her path clear, she'd hesitated, because she wanted nothing more but to hold her kiss and never release it, to be there, in his arms, in his embrace, in the light of his soul, forever.

She longed to feel it again. So she would.

Cinder leaned up and kissed him.

Jaune may not have been intending to harm her, even prone and defeated, but he had kept his guard up. When she leaned up to him, he attempted to steady his weapon, rather than pull his head back. Of all the things he'd expected her to do… that certainly wasn't among them.

He was distracted, confused… but she felt, for a brief moment, him loosening his grip, as he had in the Beacon courtyard. She remembered the taste of his lips… how intense the feeling, how it had eased the fire burning within her…

Cinder frantically pulled back from the boy and rolled away from him. He was looking on, dumbfounded, his sword pointed uselessly at the floor. Cinder dashed down the hallway, burning a path straight through the wall, retreating from him.

Jaune, stupefied though he was, quickly recovered and reached frantically for his Scroll to warn the others. He would not let that woman take another of his friends, and no matter her… very strange actions, that priority was still foremost in his mind.

Cinder sent a text through her Scroll ordering Mercury and Emerald to disengage. She dashed outside the kingdom borders, finding herself overlooking Mistral from a forested hilltop. She tried to process the events of the night, taking herself through her aborted attack step by step.

Before, though she'd been a bit unsure, a bit lacking in confidence, but her mind had been rational. Her doubts were born of logic, of pragmatism concerning her injuries. Yet, when she saw that boy, Jaune Arc, her rational mind vanished completely.

Even now, even trying to banish the unwelcome thoughts, she was consumed by the memories of him. She sparred with Jaune several times each week, felt pride in seeing him improve, enjoyed the alone time they spent together… relished each compliment he'd paid her…

NONE OF THAT EVER HAPPENED.

Was Salem right? Had Cinder's mind somehow been corrupted during the second Aura transfer? Was she, for some reason, experiencing the thoughts of Pyrrha Nikos, who Ozpin had attempted to give the powers of the Fall Maiden?

Why?! Why would anyone love that idiot farm boy?

Because he was so genuine, so kind, so warm, in everything he did-

Madness! Weakness! Childish infatuation!

Yet, when she'd recalled that moment in the Emerald Forest, when the light of his soul had washed her pain away-

It was an illusion. A vagueness in her perception, an unexpected benefit from her muddled, chaotic thoughts.

And when she'd kissed him, and he'd lifted the weight of the world from her…

Pyrrha Nikos was dead! Her thoughts were nothing more than the wishes of every other hapless citizen of Remnant burnt away in the flames of history! She was nothing now, and what she'd wished, what she'd thought, what she'd felt: that was nothing now too.

Yet, for a brief moment, she'd felt it… a fire that burned like hunger, just as she'd felt before when the soul within her was incomplete, and then the fire washed away, replaced by a stronger feeling that illuminated her, ensnaring her in warmth, in feeling his light and being embraced in it…

It was a weakness. What else could it be? It hadn't saved Pyrrha Nikos her life.

And yet, all she thought were those moments, when her pain disappeared, when her fear and doubts disappeared in the face of such burning light.

She had to be free of this, she had to move past this failure and disguise this weakness before her mistress detected it. She had to kill that boy, to silence the voice whispering deep in her soul.

But she could not kill him. Because she loved him.

She did not love him! Love was nothing but an illusion! Love was weak hearts clinging together for solace in face of the harsh reality of the world!

Yet Jaune, with nothing but his hope and optimism, had helped her lift the weight of the world…

Cinder clenched either side of her head and tried to scream, but produced only a muffled, wheezing whine, and fell to her knees in the grass.

For two brief moments, the pain had been gone. She had felt something she'd never felt, and wanted to dip her cup in the well of his light and never stop.

It was wrong. It was fruitless. It was not the life she could have.

Yet, when she'd kissed him, when she'd felt the pulse of his soul...

Cinder slammed her fist into the dirt and set the grassy patches aflame, turning it to ash.

But the hatred and frustration did not leave her. Burning the world no longer eased her pain.

Now that she had experienced that light in his soul, she had to be free of the darkness…

She had to feel it again.