Disclaimer:I do not own, nor am I associated with the production team, writing team, etc of RWBY, Monty Oum, or RoosterTeeth. Ask me if I'd love to write with/for them though.

Neo was certainly taking her sweet time with their preparations and that left far, far too much time for Cinder's thoughts to wander.

It was better to be feared than loved; never before had a lesson learned in a life left once upon a time been more relevant than the present.

She was no longer the weak willed girl cowering in the ashes and stinking of wood smoke in hopes she would be left unnoticed. That one more night would pass without the heavy hand or boot crashing against her face, stomach, or back for the pettiest slight. Every spark of life crushed beneath her heel another reminder of the self she wanted to be rid of once and for all. Power, sweet and pure, was her sole ally and ambition and carried her through any failure that came her way. As long as she had Power? She had life; and she could come back from anything.

Salem held more Power at her disposal than Cinder herself could have dreamed of; Power she would, in time, seek to make her own. Salem, Cinder knew, was not a stupid woman. No one had the amount of knowledge or Power at their disposal without the keen strategy or intelligence to utilize it properly- and the knowledge that any allies made would, eventually, betray her in attempts to seize what she had for themselves. A matter of "when" not "if" at this point; the Fall Maiden was fairly certain that Salem was expecting her inevitable betrayal and so kept her close to watch for obvious signs. Pity the old witch wouldn't know what hit her when her plan came to fruition.

The monster's arm, cold and soulless at her side, clenched its fist at the thought of betrayal of the one who'd bestowed it upon her. Cinder's nails dug into the sickeningly cool flesh in response. She was its master now; not the witch who had gifted it to her and it would do well to remember who allowed it to live so long as it remained useful. Master it, Salem had told her. And master it, like she had the fools who looked to her for orders, she would in the end.

After all, Cinder lifted one hand and summoned a plume of flame to dance above her palm. A faintly flickering aura hovering in her peripheral vision indicated the activation of her powers. This world is mine for the taking; Salem can take her revenge on Ozpin and wage her petty little war. I have bigger aspirations than dealing with ex-lovers like some sort of lovelorn fool.

Which brought to mind the unpleasant face of the bumbling blond idiot who'd attacked her. Who thought he could demand answers and deserve to get anything more than a blast of fire to the face for it. Oh, she'd tormented him; the spineless boy was no match for a woman of her caliber and she couldn't tell why the foolish girl atop the clock tower had bothered with him in the first place. He was nothing special; clumsy, stupid, and utterly worthless as an existence. A pity, really, the girl he'd screamed his 'whys' over had been almost interesting and it would have been all the more satisfying to kill her had that fool Ozpin's plan to have her inherit the Maiden's power succeeded.

A part of her, however small, envied the loyalty and devotion to her memory shown by the merry little band of troublemakers. The red head's grace and natural skill had been admirable, her emotional weaknesses and attachments to morality and her 'friends' less so and had been her undoing in the end. She, in the end, was weak and perished like every other weakling in Remnant. That was the rule, after all; the strong survived, the weak perished or were ruled. Those same words from the Spring Maiden who'd humiliated her echoed in her head.

Cinder hissed, hand sweeping out to blast flame into the shadows in a fit of temper.

Red garbed bitch with her blade and ice. She should have been cowed. Should have bent knee and offered her life up like the dirt eating worm she was. Like the red headed girl, she too had loyalty and devotion. Undeserved, of course, but still there nonetheless. Only, unlike the clock tower, that woman had Power; true Power and she knew how to use it as though it were as natural as breathing. Raven Branwen had played her in such a thoroughly similar game that she'd so often done she'd nearly puked from disgust and had just left her alive as though she were too insignificant to bother killing. The lecture filled insult, being called a girl by such a woman, still stung; how dare she talk down to her as though she were a stupid child?

She was Cinder Fall; internationally wanted criminal mastermind and Fall Maiden. She was as close to a god as this pathetic world had and she would make Raven understand that when she finished draining the last of her unjustly granted power for herself.

And to think I used to like the color Red. She thought in disgust. They'd called it a power color for good reason and, when she wore it, all eyes fell on her and she was Power. But then Little Red had stolen that from her right after the red haired girl had perished. The silver eyed brat whose screams haunted her just as much as the occasional throbbing of her face and pull of scar tissue. Cinder would never admit to the nightmares of a whey faced child whose eyes blinded her and caused a fire of a different sort to rip through her body tormenting her throughout the night. Of the thought of meeting the brat causing her to shake with fury and fear simultaneously. Salem's demand to keep the girl alive would be ignored. She wanted Ruby Rose dead and she was willing to stop at nothing until that goal was achieved.

Raven Branwen had the Power she deserved and was destined to have. She had a family, one she'd managed to alienate thanks to her betrayal, and a place to call home.

Pyrrha Nikos, oh yes; she knew the name of the one who'd asked her if she believed in destiny, had power, potential, influence, and the happy life she should have had.

And then Little Red. Ruby Rose. That little bitch had it all; Power, Friends, Loyalty, Family, and a Destiny.

None of it she deserved and all of it something she should have had.