"So, we're asking around for potentially suspicious people and places?"
Jaune and the crew – the usual suspects of Team RWBY and JNR – were sat within a restaurant within Vacuo. Jaune hadn't paid much attention to the name of the place – it had been written in Old Vacuoan, which was not a language he could read, write, or understand – but Yang and Blake had apparently come here several times as a date spot, and had invited the rest of them out to have a good meal together, and discuss their next move.
It had been three days since they'd encountered Cinder out in the desert beyond the walls, and two since they'd found Jaune in that canyon, and brought him back. Things were… well, they were going.
"I mean, it seems like as good an idea as any other." Yang shrugged. "Rubes was the one who came up with it."
"Mm." Ruby nodded her head. "I figure since there's not a lot to be doing with the patrol lines pushed so far out, we should be seeing if those lines have already been breached. We know that Cinder was either able to get that request onto the board at Shade directly, or that she paid or otherwise got someone else to do it for her. Either way, she has a way into Vacuo, or some means of influencing things here in the city."
"It's probably safe to assume she and her allies can get in and out without arousing suspicion." Ren brought up. "After all, Tyrian managed to disappear into the sewers, and not even the local authorities – who were supposed to know those sewers quite well – were able to find so much as a trail on him. To me, that screams of familiarity with the area."
"So, you think Tyrian's Vacuoan?"
"Could be." Blake spoke up this time. "It wouldn't surprise me. But then, no background of Tyrian's would surprise me, other than perhaps learning that he had a normal homelife growing up."
Jaune hummed in assent, even as the waitress brought over their food. Jaune had settled for something extremely simple; five kebabs loaded with different meats, vegetables, and other greens, all utterly drenched in spices and grilled to perfection. Jaune took a bite out of one, and moaned around it.
"Gods, that's good," he chewed. "You guys weren't kidding."
"Told ya'." Yang winked. "Oh, crap! I nearly forgot," Yang's smile took on an almost devilish quality. "Ruby's going to be eighteen next week!"
Ruby groaned. "It's not a big deal, Yang."
"Not a big deal!? You're going to be an adult!" Yang wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders, despite the fact that Blake was between the two of them, and had to duck out of the way with a roll of her eyes. "We're going to drink the night away until we black out! It'll be great!"
Weiss just groaned. "We will not be doing that."
"You do realize that I missed several months here, and that I'm not actually eighteen, right? We time travelled like three or so months into the future?"
"Semantics, Rubes. Semantics."
Jaune seemed to be the only one surprised by one aspect of that announcement, however. "Really? It's October?"
Ren eyed him. "Jaune, you didn't know what month it was?"
"Er… it hasn't been all that relevant, really?"
"Eh, I mean, we sort of disappeared for a few months, so," Yang shrugged. "Either way, I want to have a party sometime around the 31st, so don't find anything to busy yourselves with in the meantime! Keep your schedules open!"
Jaune almost wanted to laugh. "I'll see if I can pencil it in between all this nothing I'm doing."
The others got a kick out of that, which had him smiling. Even so, he couldn't quite get past the fact that he'd just… not known what month it was. Of course, he'd made little mistakes like that before, but only at the very beginning or very end of the month. It was smack dab in the middle of October – apparently – and…
And he'd just had no clue.
…He didn't think he could be blamed. Not truly. He'd been living with an entirely separate set of temporal rules for the last twenty years of his life; longer, even, than he'd lived with Remnant's. It was just…
Well, even if no one else was blaming him, he was blaming himself.
"You alright, Jaune?"
"Huh?" He was back in reality, staring across at Ruby, who was leaning across the table to check up on him.
"I asked if you were alright. You looked spaced out."
"I'm fine. Just… uh…"
"Feeling pulled out of time?" Weiss offered.
"…Yeah, actually." He laughed.
"That adds up." Weiss cleared her throat. "You were absent from Remnant for two decades. You probably don't even remember what month it was when we were taken away from Atlas, do you?"
"I… no. I don't."
"Well, that's not your fault, certainly." Weiss shook her head. "Something like that doesn't actually matter."
"I didn't know that Ruby's birthday was coming up. That kind of matters."
"It would, had you actually forgotten it, but you didn't." Weiss countered with a smile. "You were surprised not that her birthday was coming up, but that it was October. You remembered her birth date, didn't you?"
He… had, yes. October the 31st.
"I think what Weiss is trying to say in a suuuuper roundabout way," Yang interrupted her teammate, "Is that you should give yourself a break here. It's fine. We're all a little out of whack, too, and you have reason to be most of all."
"Mhm. What they said." Nora elbowed him. "You're forgiven for whatever you think you've done wrong, even though you haven't!"
He couldn't help but laugh. "You guys are ridiculous, you know that?"
"We try." Blake's lips were curled up at the ends. "Alright, are we going to talk about what we actually came here to discuss, or are we just going to keep talking about nothing?"
"I don't know, I kind of like talking about and accomplishing nothing, I don't know about you guys." Yang asked.
"Oh, quiet." Weiss groaned. "Ugh, you are annoying sometimes."
"And I'm proud of it." Yang's smile was cheshire.
/
"Have you seen anything suspicious lately?"
"Who knows? Maybe you should buy something?"
Jaune grumbled out under his breath, even as he took a rather nice piece of glasswork that he didn't at all need from the stall in front of him, and took out some lien to pay for it. The man who owned the stall looked mighty pleased with himself as Jaune paid for the item, and then said, "I appreciate your business! There've been some suspicious figures coming through the bazaar, yeah."
"Can you give me some descriptions?"
"Hm. There's been a couple. There's this one figure, a woman it seems, who comes in all wrapped in bandages and keeps her face obscured. That's not entirely unusual, of course; a lot of people dress similarly for religious reasons. The thing that makes her stand out from the others is that she doesn't haggle."
"That's odd?"
The man laughed. "Should've known you wouldn't find that weird, given you paid what I asked for that," he pointed to the glass in Jaune's hand. "Word of advice, kid? Never take the first price the people around here give ya'. That's worth less than half of what you paid."
Jaune glared at the man. "I don't suppose you're going to give me half of my money back?"
"All sales final, kid." The man wore a shit-eating grin. "But she's like that, too. A lot of people here have been talking about her. She's an easy mark, y'know? We here in the bazaar love easy marks. We talk and share info on those kinds of people. Whenever she goes to stalls that she hasn't visited before, the people there know to jack their prices way up when it's her. Yet, no matter how ridiculous they are – we're talking four or five times what she should be paying – she doesn't even bat an eye, or seem to care. Just pays and leaves."
"So, she dresses like a local, but isn't one?"
"Yeah, I'd say." The man shrugs. "Outside of that… I mean, there was that scorpion faunus who ran through here being chased by those Huntress chicks, but I figure you'd know about that."
Jaune nodded. "Do you know anything about him?"
"The faunus? Uh… word among some of the elders around here is that he's sort of familiar? Maybe had family from here? Or maybe he grew up in Vacuo for a time."
That had Jaune intrigued. "Anything to go off of?"
"Elders told the police all they knew; trust me, it wasn't much."
"Got it." Jaune circled back. "So, that woman's the only one who you consistently see?"
"Yep."
"Has she been coming by long?"
"Few months at this point."
"So, she started coming in around when the other refugees did?"
"Probably a bit later, actually. Maybe a few weeks after? Could've just been settling in, though."
It could've been, but given all that he'd heard, Jaune was inclined to believe that this person was at the very least suspicious.
"Does she only frequent this bazaar?"
"I know a few people from some of the other bazaars, and I've not heard them mention anyone like her."
Jaune's brow furrowed. That narrowed things down, then. It made it likely that whoever this woman was – Jaune was operating under the idea that it was Cinder, given that Gillian had not been free for the majority of the time this person had been coming to the bazaar – she either lived in or operated around this area.
That was good information. He drew out more lien and handed them to the man. "For your help, sir."
"You…" The man's eyes were wide. "…Aye, lad. You need anythin', you come on back. I can fix you up a hot meal someday."
Jaune laughed. "Thank you, sir."
He stepped away from the stall, and back towards the person he'd been partnered up with for this little reconnaissance mission.
"Anything?" Emerald Sustrai, former member of Cinder's little band of evil and now one of their allies, asked him as she pushed herself off of the wall she'd been leaning on.
"Got some useful information, yeah."
He caught Emerald up over the course of the next two or so minutes as they walked through the bazaar, patrolling about and watching for anything suspicious while they did.
As he talked, Jaune couldn't help but glance over at Emerald every once in a while. She was focusing hard on his words, internalizing them as she scanned the crowds of people walking through the bazaar around them. Her eyes moved at a mile a minute, flicking from one person to the next.
She was always watching. Always careful. He imagined that came from her life growing up on the streets – one of the few pieces of information that Jaune had gleaned about Emerald. Ren and Nora had told him, since they were apparently quite close with her.
Which was… okay, it was weird for Jaune. Emerald had been someone he'd known for all of a day or so before he'd been whisked away to the Ever After. He'd then been there for twenty or so years, and then come back.
And Emerald and his teammates had become close friends. She was also pretty close with Oscar, acting as something of a big sister for him. It was good for the kid. He needed someone to look out for him with Ozpin in his head, it was just…
Well, Jaune didn't explicitly trust Emerald, and it seemed to him that Emerald could tell. There was an awkwardness between them that he didn't really know what to do with. His friends had thusly decided to send the two of them out to scout for information together, since he was the odd man out. Ruby had gone with Weiss, Blake with Yang, Ren with Nora, and Jaune had been left all alone.
Oscar had stayed behind. Ozpin had had business to take care of with some of the other leaders here in Vacuo.
Which meant that it was Emerald backing him up.
"I can't say it jumps out to me as specifically being Cinder he was talking about." Emerald said as they turned a corner. "It's entirely possible it's someone else, but I do agree that they sound suspicious. We should at the very least keep an eye out for them."
Jaune nodded his head. "I agree. What do you think we should do? Camp out here?"
"I'm going to get the opinions of some of the rats around here." Emerald told him, and then, when he didn't know what she meant by 'rats', she clarified, "I'm going to ask the pickpockets and dealers around here about her, see if they've noticed anything, or know where she lives. If it is Cinder, she's almost certainly been too careful to be caught, but if they don't know, that tells us something about this mystery woman to begin with."
"Would they be watching people that closely?"
"Not normally, but if the people around the bazaar said she was willing to pay more lien for things…"
Jaune caught on. "Then the pickpockets might mark her as someone who has a lot of lien, and try to steal from her?"
"Bingo." Emerald confirmed. "At that point, they'd start casing her, learning habits, tracking where she lives, her routes, when she's vulnerable, things like that. I'd be surprised, knowing how well known she is around this bazaar, if she wasn't a known quantity in some way shape or form. Now, if it was Cinder, and one of them tried to rob her, well… I'll ask if any of the kids are missing, first."
Jaune winced. For their sakes, he hoped no one had tried to do something like that. Cinder was cruel and callous, and unafraid to solve any and all problems she encountered with violence. She would kill a caught pickpocket without a second thought if she had the chance.
She didn't kill you when she had the chance.
That thought threw Jaune off momentarily, and he had to steady himself a moment to get back on track. "I… yeah. Okay. Are you going to go and do that now?"
Emerald eyed him, seemingly wondering what had just happened with him, but she nodded her head and said, "I am."
"You're not concerned about being… y'know, robbed?"
"Pickpockets want money." Emerald said, drawing out a handful of lien. "I am willing to give them money. If they try to take from me after that, then frankly, whatever happens is on them."
Jaune couldn't really go against the general sentiment of what Emerald was saying, but, "Go easy on them."
She rolled her eyes. "Sure."
And that was that. Emerald walked until she hit an alley, then disappeared down it.
And Jaune was left alone.
…He decided, for lack of anything better to do, that he would explore.
The bazaar didn't have much in the way of things to do for those not looking to spend money, but then, it was a store. That added up. Jaune did take some entertainment in observing the locals going about purchasing things from the different stalls. As the previous stall owner had been telling him, the locals haggled and drove down the prices. Some were better at it than others. More convincing. Others seemed to be on such good terms with the shop keepers that there was no haggling at all, and they simply exchanged an already agreed upon amount for what they were buying. This amount seemed to vary from person to person.
It was fascinating.
Jaune was distracted by this. He was distracted, and so when he was walking down the path, and suddenly found himself being pulled into an alleyway, with a blade held to his throat, he really only had himself to blame.
/
Cinder had cottoned onto the fact that something was wrong fairly immediately upon exiting out of her hotel building.
Perhaps wrong was the wrong word, however. It was more that she realized that the air had a charge; that there was some sort of happening occurring. It was a vague sense, but she had learned to trust her instincts.
She moved over towards one of the nearby alleyways, and found one of the urchin children she'd been using as a means of gathering information. She drew out a single lien card, and handed it to the young girl.
"What's going on?"
"There are some people asking around for suspis–" The girl caught on her words. "Susp…"
"Suspicious?"
"Suspicious people." The girl nodded her head. "I saw 'em! One is this guy with blonde hair. He's tall. Then there's this green haired woman. She's very pretty."
Cinder felt a twinge run through her. "Dark skin?"
"The lady? Mhm."
Arc and Emerald? It made the most sense to her. It would explain why she'd felt that odd disturbance upon exiting out. The former was someone she'd warred with just a few days ago – the less she thought about that incident the better – and the latter was someone who she had spent a good deal of time with.
Emerald…
No. She would not think about these things right now. She handed the young girl another lien card – ignoring the way she lit up and thanked her – before pulling her hood up over her face and moving towards the bazaar.
It was filled with people at this time of day, which was good for her. She knew her disguise served well in terms of blending in, but she did not want to test things. She doubted she would have been listed among anyone suspicious, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious.
It didn't truly take long for her to find Emerald and Arc. The former was leaning against a wall ahead of her, with her eyes on a swivel. The latter was discussing something or another with an older man, seemingly having bought something from him. Cinder knew what he was doing; give and take. He spent lien, the man would give him what he wanted.
It was the same principle she had utilized just a few minutes prior with that urchin in the alleyway.
Still, Cinder retreated a bit, making sure that she was relatively hidden. Emerald was many things – a filthy traitor most of all – but she was doubtless as attentive as she had been under Cinder's care. Her gaze never fixed on one person for long, always scanning the people that were walking through the bazaar. She had also taken a spot where she could not be snuck up on, placing her back in the corner of a small alcove, with an overhang above her so that she could not even be attacked from above.
Cinder could have dealt with her from there using the Maiden's powers, as could Tyrian using his tail at an odd angle, but few others would have been able to attack her from such a position. Better yet, few would be able to see her. Despite her hair color setting her apart from the mostly black and brown-haired people of the bazaar, she somehow managed to blend into the background better than anyone else.
Eventually, Arc finished his conversation, and walked over to Emerald. The two exchanged words, and began walking. Cinder followed at a reasonable distance, stepping along with the crowd, and stopping to make 'purchases' at stalls every once in a while.
All she was really doing was blending in. She would 'look' at the items on display, hum, and then keep going, ignoring the shopkeeper themselves.
Eventually, the two of them – Arc and Emerald – came to a stop, and Cinder stopped at a stall again, this time actually looking. She would purchase something so as to be less suspicious. This stall ended up selling dining utensils, which served her perfectly. She purchased a long, serrated knife, and paid what the person asked for it. It was somewhat expensive, but Cinder had lien to spare. She did not particularly care to make a fuss over nothing.
She stepped back, looked over, and saw that Emerald had now stepped away. It was Arc standing around doing nothing.
…
A plan formed in Cinder's mind almost instantaneously, then. He was vulnerable, singled out, and she could take advantage of that. She would.
She came up with the method of approach almost instantly. There was an alley ahead of Arc to his left. She moved through the crowds, walking onto the parallel street to the one Arc was on and sliding into the alley. She waited for him to pass by, palming the knife she had just purchased.
Arc did as she'd thought he would, and so she took him by the arm, wrenched him to the side, and pinned him against the wall with her knife against his neck.
"Don't move." She hissed into his ear.
He didn't.
Cinder waited a moment, looking out of the alley itself and seeing if anyone passing by it was looking their way. It didn't surprise her to see that no one was looking. Cinder had long gotten used to such lack of care. In the Glass Unicorn, it had become routine that the patrons would ignore her suffering, her obvious pain, as she walked around them, through them, and waited on their every need. All of them were focused on themselves, and the things they were doing. They did not care to expand their circle of attention.
Even so, Arc could break out of her hold. He'd already proven himself stronger than her. She would cut that off at the pass.
"Make any sudden movements, and I set this place alight. Understood?"
He nodded tersely. Good. He would do nothing. Not and risk this many people's lives. It was an empty threat – Cinder was not looking to start a city-wide manhunt – but he did not have to know that.
Cinder turned him around, and he allowed the motion. As he faced her, she watched as his expression changed. He was analyzing her; her outfit, the wrappings around her left eye and left arm.
And then, he said something entirely stupid.
"…Have you been targeted by pickpockets?"
It was such an idiotic thing for the man to ask her that she was briefly stunned into silence.
"What?"
"Emerald thought that pickpockets might have targeted you, since you pay a lot here at the bazaar. Have they?"
Cinder scoffed. "No. No street urchins have made any attempts on me. Normally, even children are far too intelligent to try and attack me in any way. If anything, they gain far more acting as my eyes and ears."
Left unsaid was that he had attacked Cinder several times, and that he was a fool for doing so. She hoped that he would catch her insinuation.
"So, what now?" Arc asked, glaring up at her. "What's your plan?"
And…
Cinder felt oddly caught.
Because, now that he'd mentioned it…
What was her plan, exactly?
…
Oh. Hm.
That was a moderate problem.
Notes:
Alright! Starting part 1 off with a pretty standard confrontation for our mains here. Cinder does something shortsighted and a little silly, and surprises even herself when she realizes she's not quite sure why she's done it. We'll get more from her and Jaune next chapter!
For now, though, I'll talk to you guys later!
For more on me, and my stories, check out my linktree! https://linktr.ee/deferonz
Chapter 6Notes:
Yo! Welcome back to more of this! Following up on last chapter...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In the end, Cinder got lucky. The alleyway she'd held Jaune up in was less than a block from a rather seedy motel that wouldn't make much of a fuss about two people without any information entering in and renting a room.
She needed a space to hold Arc for a time where she wouldn't be discovered, and a motel room – even a ratty one – would do nicely. The woman at the reception took one look at the two of them and asked if they'd like a room for a few hours. Cinder was surprised at how quickly she'd read what she needed out of this arrangement, but decided that one woman being unusually receptive was no great issue. She paid for the room – an almost insultingly low amount – before making her way to the designated floor and door.
She unlocked it with a key card – this took several tries, during which time Arc actually began to laugh at her, causing her to draw out another dagger and hold it to his neck as she continued attempts – before they stepped inside. Cinder went after Arc, closing the door behind her and locking it securely.
"You do realize they think we're here to have sex, right?"
Cinder was so astounded by the man's brazenness that she forgot, for a moment, the entire scenario she'd found herself in.
"As if you'd ever be so lucky." Cinder shot back without delay.
"That must've been why the receptionist was staring at me so hard." Arc continued. "She could see how out of my league you were. It definitely wasn't the fact that there was a red indentation on my throat."
Right. She'd held a blade to the man's neck and, aura or not, it had left a mark.
"Be thankful I left a mere indentation," Cinder sneered. "I could have done far worse."
"Ah, yes, slitting my throat in the middle of a crowded street while I still had my aura up and a semblance to fall back on." Arc snarked. "Clearly, I am dealing with a plan so foolproof that I could never hope to counter it."
She laughed harshly.
And then, all at once, the both of them seemed to remember where they were. Who they were. What they were doing.
And things stopped being funny.
She looked around the space for something to bind Arc's hands, and settled for the sheet on the bed, tearing it off and wrappings his wrists. He sat obediently while she did this; she had, after all, threatened the people of the bazaar if he moved. She could really only hope that he didn't figure out how empty of a threat that was.
Of course, him not figuring out that such was an empty threat also boded poorly, in that she now had to actually come up with some reason as to why she'd done all of this.
Because that was really the crux of the issue here. Holding a knife against Arc's neck was all well and good, but unless she'd used it to slit his throat – something that, as he'd pointed out, wouldn't have worked through aura either way – then she had to have a reason to kidnap the man.
"What's your plan?" Arc glared up at her, reasonably expecting her to have one.
"Why would I tell you?" She snarled at him. "You'll sit there and wait like a good little boy if you know what's good for you."
The man's eyes narrowed, but he didn't put up any real resistance.
"If you're going to try and ransom me for something, then I hate to break it to you, but I doubt they'd give much up for me." Arc needled at her. "Is that the plan? Try and trade me for someone like the Summer Maiden?"
No. She did not harbor any illusions that such would work. Ozpin – or Ozma or Oscar, whatever the man's name was – was a shrewd man who knew the value of the pieces he held. While Arc had value, the Summer Maiden held infinitely more. The Relic of Destruction was likely appropriately named, which meant that keeping it out of Salem's hands was perhaps Ozpin's single greatest priority.
He would sacrifice Jaune Arc in a heartbeat to keep it safe.
She said as much, and Arc just laughed. There was a meanness to that laugh, however, that she had not expected.
"Right." He bit out. "That sounds like him."
Cinder eyed Arc suspiciously at that. He had some distrust – or perhaps distaste was a more accurate term – of Ozpin? "Oh?"
"It's nothing." Arc lied obviously. "So, are you planning on killing me?"
This man was annoying her. "I would not have wasted my time speaking to you, or even bringing you here, if that were my plan, would I have?"
"So, you intend to interrogate me, then?"
"Indeed." She made up.
"Didn't you just tell me you weren't going to tell me what your plan was?"
…She wanted nothing more than to smack the man upside the head for his flippantness, but she held herself back. She was in control, not him. No matter how many needling comments he made.
"Yes, well," Despite her thoughts, she felt the need to hit back. "On the nature of plans; I do not think you children could make your plans any more obvious if you tried. You're attempting to triangulate where I'm currently staying in Vacuo by asking around, hm?"
Arc seemed surprised, which almost made her want to laugh. "Please. You're not doing anything to hide it. A child would have noticed your efforts by now, and I am rather capable in these matters. You are a tenacious bunch of brats, but subtlety has never been any of your strongest suits."
The man grumbled. "You admit you're staying somewhere in Vacuo, then?"
"You may have that piece of information for free." Cinder knew they could do nothing with it. They'd likely already figured out as much by now while asking around, anyways. "Consider it a gift. I am nothing if not generous."
Arc barked out a laugh. "Funny. Are you going to start interrogating me anytime soon, or just keep this little stand-up comedy routine going? If you want my advice? Keep your day job."
Again, Cinder found herself surprised by Arc's caustic humor. "What exactly are you and your forces planning?"
"I thought you just figured that out? We're looking for you."
"Other than that." Cinder rolled her eyes, even as she walked over to the bed where the tied-up Arc was seated and conjured a flaming blade utilizing the Maiden's powers. It appeared in the shape of Midnight, as most of her blades did. She had never intentionally decided such a thing. It just… sort of happened.
"We're really not up to much." Arc stated, and though it sounded like a joke, Cinder was almost tempted to believe he was being truthful. "Just preparing. We're fortifying defenses, getting people ready with evacuation protocols and what not. Salem's going to attack. Probably when we least want her to. So, we want to be ready."
"You cannot be. I would have figured that Atlas and Vale would have shown you this."
Arc frowned. "We've still got to try."
She rolled her eyes, but conceded that he was likely being genuine, no matter how idiotic a thing it was to think. Salem could not be stopped. She could barely be slowed down.
Only Cinder had a chance to–
'Have you surpassed every single hero in recorded history? Have you become stronger than anyone has ever been before? Because I somehow doubt that Ozpin has never tried sending people after Salem; hell, I doubt he's never tried to face her with a small army. And yet, Salem still stands. She still rules over the Grimmlands, and the Grimm themselves. Right now, she's trying to conquer the world – has already conquered a lot of it – …and you think you can beat her?'
"You look like you just bit into an onion or something." Arc addressed her, snapping her from out of her thoughts.
"I was pondering what you told me back in that canyon." Cinder told him. "About how even I could not stand up to Salem. By your own words, you do not believe that I, the strongest warrior alive–"
"Debatable."
"Can defeat her." Cinder did not rise to the man's paltry bait, no matter if the desire to smack him burned within her. "So, what hope do you have?"
"We're still going to try." Arc said. "Ruby hasn't given up, so none of the rest of us are giving up, either."
Rose. Cinder's brow furrowed. Even thinking on Ruby Rose had her wanting to slice the woman's head from her shoulders. That infuriating brat.
An idea formed inside her head. It was not something she could truly utilize; far too many moving parts to execute on so short a time span, but she could use it to taunt the man in front of her; to derive some level of pleasure from his suffering.
It would do.
"Ruby Rose?" Cinder hummed. "So, you defer to her, then? I suppose she has become somewhat of a symbol for the people of this world, hasn't she. That broadcast being repeated all over. Perhaps that is what I shall use you for; as a means to lure her out."
Arc's expression shifted into one of genuine anger, then. "You wouldn't be able to do that. You'd be giving yourself away. She'd never come alone, and not even you would win against everyone."
Ah. So, he'd seen right through her, then. She had to hand it to the man; he was clever in much the same ways that she was. Quick on his feet and fast to react to a changing situation. Adaptable.
Still, that brought her back to the central problem with this entire affair.
She still didn't know what she was supposed to do now.
She'd not gotten anything of value out of Arc. In fact, she'd given him more than she'd taken. She'd told him explicitly that she was hiding out somewhere in Vacuo, and judging based on the fact that she'd been there to capture him, taking a guess that it was within the general area around them right now was fair.
She couldn't just release Arc. Nor, truly, did she believe that she could kill him, either, and not for lack of trying. No, the bindings keeping him wrapped up were flimsy, and if he had to, he could break himself free from them quickly. He was playing along right now because she wasn't overtly threatening him, and he was trying to get more info out of her, just as she was pretending to be doing with him.
Suddenly, the sound of a buzzing drew her back to the real world, and she looked to see Jaune Arc staring down at his pocket.
His scroll was ringing.
"I don't suppose you'll let me take that?" He cocked an eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes, but reached for the man's pocket and drew the scroll from out of it. The name on the caller ID had her eyes widening.
Emerald Sustrai.
"Answer, but play along. Tell her nothing is amiss."
Arc's brow drew down, but he nodded his head. Cinder pressed the answer call button, and Arc said, "Hello?"
"Yo, where are you? I finished talking to the pickpockets."
"Anything of value?"
"Some stuff. Where are you?"
"Eating." Arc lied. "Wanted to try that spot that Ren and Nora were recommending the other day."
"That's, what, a few blocks from the bazaar? You walked that far?"
"I wasn't sure how long you were going to be."
"I see." Emerald's voice betrayed her lack of belief in this matter. Cinder could hear it. She did not expressly think this was foul play. More like Jaune Arc was blowing her off. "Well, I'm going to stick around for a few more minutes. Come and meet me back at the bazaar when you're finished."
"Got it. Thanks for helping today, Emerald."
"It's… nothing." Emerald sounded surprised. "…For a moment, I assumed you were avoiding me."
Cinder raised an eyebrow at Arc, who looked up at her a bit helplessly. She made a 'continue' motion, and he inaudibly sighed. "I wasn't trying to avoid you, sorry. I was just hungry."
Emerald chuckled. "Alright. Well, see you in a bit."
"Yeah. See you."
Cinder ended the call. "…She sounds like she's doing well."
Arc eyed her with a furrowed brow, which struck Cinder as weird. "You sound concerned about her."
Cinder barked out a laugh. "Concerned? Hardly. She's a traitor."
"Right." The man rolled his eyes. Cinder did not like that.
"Do you have something to say?" She moved towards him, glaring down at him from his position on the bed.
"Uh… well, sort of."
"What?"
She was too slow to react. She only realized that the bedsheets that had been keeping Arc's hands tied behind his back had been loosened enough for him to escape as he was coming at her.
Jaune Arc slammed into her, knocking her to the side and into the bedside table. Her aura prevented the collision from harming her in any way, but she was dazed briefly, and that was more than enough for Arc to push his way through the door at the entrance, and make his way out into the hotel proper.
Cinder swore, pushing her way out of the room herself, but she saw that the man was already within the stairwell. Immediately, she understood that there was no way she was catching him. Not that she couldn't, mind, but to do so would either invite a response from the local authorities, sparking interest that she was not looking for, or potentially even get her involved in a battle against the other members of Arc's little 'group'.
And loathe as she was to admit it, the man alone had been able to fight her to a standstill in the sands beyond Vacuo's walls. That had been her own fault, admittedly; fighting him in his range, at his pace, and underestimating him. Even so, it did not matter.
She would accept that she'd not been careful enough this time. In all honesty, Arc wriggling his way out of his bindings was something she was almost thankful for. He'd gotten himself out of there, and prevented her from having to make a decision as to what she was going to do with him.
Because she did not think she had an answer.
At least not one she liked.
A minute or two later, she moved her way out of the room, out of the hotel, pulled her hood back up, and disappeared into the crowd.
/
"Cinder kidnapped you!?"
"Yep." Jaune sighed as he tried to prevent everyone in their friend group from freaking out about this. "Again, I'm fine. It wasn't exactly her most airtight plan, I don't think."
He was currently standing in the middle of Headmaster Theodore's office in Shade, located within the Ziggurat. He was joined by Team RWBY, Ren and Nora, Oscar, Emerald, and Theodore himself. The others – Qrow, Raven, Winter, etc. – were all out with other business.
Which Jaune felt they all should've been doing, given that this impromptu meeting was a massive waste of time.
"Jaune, you were kidnapped." Nora said, crossing her arms. "This is a big deal!"
"It's not that big of a deal." He tried to explain for the umpteenth time. "I was kidnapped for all of thirty minutes. I only even allowed it because Cinder threatened civilians, but I sort of realized she was bullshitting about halfway through her interrogating me."
"How?" Ruby seemed curious. "What gave it away that she wasn't being truthful?"
"Honestly? I just had a feeling." Jaune admitted, which… was probably a bad reason to have put the lives of civilians at risk. "I took a gamble; I thought that if she wanted to still keep a low profile, and be able to keep a bit of her anonymity around Vacuo, then she wasn't going to randomly set a bazaar on fire and cause the entire city to go on high alert. So far, Tyrian was the only one to actually pull off a major operation, and he did that to spring those two from Crown with the really overpowered semblances."
"Mind control and aura amplification." Headmaster Theodore sighed. "Yes, indeed. Jax and Gillian were once students here. They have fallen quite far since those days in terms of morals, but their strengths are not to be underestimated."
"It's the former that worries me most." Blake spoke. "Mind control by utilizing a portion of his aura as a catalyst, which is then made up for via his sister's ability to supplement aura… it's a potent combination. One we need to keep an eye out for. Anyone could be a sleeper agent in disguise."
"There is one small silver lining on that front." Theodore spoke up. "Jax's mind was wiped after battle with Yatsuhashi Daichi, a man I am sure you all know quite well. After that, he seemed to lose much of the malice that had characterized him in recent years. That, in turn, seemed to pacify Gillian as well."
"But they've been broken out of prison, yeah?" Yang frowned. "I assume they're going to be back to their old ways in that case."
"I would not be so sure." Theodore said, shaking his head. "But then, I cannot expressly disagree, either. I am merely stating that things may not be so bleak as they seem. But moving back to the situation at hand; you say you escaped after loosening your bindings and waiting for Cinder Fall to be distracted?"
"Yeah, she uh… sort of got baited in by me making an errant comment." Jaune shrugged, not admitting that said comment had been about Emerald. The woman didn't need that. Not with how she had once loved Cinder. "So, I pulled hard enough that the bindings around my wrists loosened," he pointedly did not mention that they had been bedsheets, because he didn't want his friends getting the wrong idea, "and then just charged right at her. Threw her against the wall, ran out, and then found Emerald as soon as I could."
"No wonder you sounded so damned awkward during that call." Emerald rolled her eyes.
"Sorry about that." Jaune smiled.
"Not sure why you're apologizing, given it wasn't your fault at all." Emerald didn't seem too bothered. "Anyways, since now seems like a good time; I did get some info out of the pickpockets at that bazaar. Apparently, a few of their guys would try to get a read on Cinder, but none of them ever went any further than that. It's common practice not to go after people who look like they can beat you to death with just their fists, and Cinder, in disguise or not, radiates huntress energy. So, they didn't bite, no matter how nice the prospect of the lien she was probably carrying was."
So, Cinder had been telling the truth on that front, then? That was… certainly interesting. Jaune had doubted anything she had to say – like when she'd given him a 'freebie' by letting him know she was staying somewhere in the city, which to him had meant she didn't have anywhere at all – but perhaps she had been being truthful after all?
It was certainly food for thought.
"But the fact that they were targeting her in the first place means she was likely in the area often, correct?" Blake asked.
Emerald nodded. "I imagine she had a home base of some sort in and around the area, alongside a more secure or secretive second location she can go to ground within. I would assume that she will have gone for the second now."
"You think she'll go to ground?"
"In theory, we should be able to ask around and find someone who's seen Cinder enter or exit a building in and around the bazaar we were investigating." Emerald said, and Jaune saw her angle. "From there, we would only need to get local authorities to pull records until we found either a hotel room or apartment that wasn't actually being rented out to a real person."
"Which would then lead us to Cinder herself." Ruby nodded. "I get it. So, is that what we should do now?"
"Like I said, Cinder will know we're going to, but yes, I think we should. Even if it's just to put the pressure on her. She's not going to use that place – whatever it was – again anyways. There exists a possibility that she'll have left something of value behind. Records with her alias on them that we can use to track her dealings around the city, for instance. She had a lot of different aliases back in Vale, not just the one. Prevented one from getting found out from something like the White Fang screwing up and bringing the whole operation down."
"Right, then." Jaune cleared his throat. "I guess that's what we're doing for the rest of the day, then?"
"You," Weiss approached him, pouting up at him from her lower vantage point. "Are going to be staying here. I don't care if you say you weren't affected by Cinder holding a blade to your throat or being held captive; you're going to the nurse's office here at the very least to make sure everything's alright."
Jaune groaned. "Weiss, I'm fine. I swear. It really wasn't a big deal."
"You do realize that every time you say that, Weiss doubles down further, right?" Yang raised an eyebrow at him. "Just go down and get checked out. Humor your wife a little."
Both Jaune and Weiss blushed rather heavily at that, which caused the entire room – minus Theodore, who was out of the loop – to laugh. Jaune was more than a little peeved that even Oscar was laughing, because he was pretty sure it was actually Ozpin that was laughing at them.
Even so, he made his departure, and moved towards the nurse's office. It was on the lower floors of the ziggurat, so he moved to the elevator and pressed the button for the third basement floor.
On the way down, though, he was left with time to think.
And he found himself thinking on Cinder Fall. On the woman who'd kidnapped him, and whom he had spoken with twice now in less than a week.
Oddly, his thoughts went back to that moment, when she'd hung up his call with Emerald, and then stared at the scroll in her hands for a few seconds afterwards.
There'd been this… sadness in her eyes. Or perhaps sadness was not the right word. Longing. That was more accurate.
It shouldn't have meant anything to him. He should've taken one look at that, remembered who he was dealing with, and forgotten all about it.
Only…
Life had never quite been that simple, and Jaune was under no illusions that it was going to start being so now.
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TO BE CONTINUED