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Chapter Text

The arena came to life as Team WCKR and Team THRN filed out onto the auditorium floor. The lights above the stands dimmed, hiding their audience in the dark and offering the two teams the spotlight. Hard light barriers sprang to life around the rim of the pit, crowning the battlefield. And up on the wall behind the stage two holo-screen lit up, each displaying the aura gauges for every member of either team.

On their side of the arena, Winter crossed her arms and quickly gave their opponents a once-over.

Team THRN was composed of two faunus and two humans. According to the holo-screens, they were listed as: Thorn Briars. Helia Solus. Rahm Bighorn. And Nix Nocturne.

Winter was somewhat familiar with Thorn, recalling her from the Team Leadership course. 

The mouse faunus was short and slim, a diminutive target that seemed nimble on her feet. She wore a zipped-up brown jacket with a chestguard strapped over the right side of her torso, her hood pulled up and a pair of decorative mouse ears wobbling on her head. Down below, she had on a pair of shorts that cut off higher than Cinder’s and belts full of throwing knives around her waist and thighs. In addition, her tail was tipped with metal. A device? Another weapon?

She seemed dangerous in a way that Winter couldn’t quite tell. She’d need to stay on her toes around her.

Helia struck Winter as familiar in a strange sort of way, and it was only after stealing a glance at Cinder that she realized the two of them had a similar design philosophy to their attire. Both girls were dressed in flashy clothing, Cinder in her halter top and shorts, while Helia wore a corset and skirt with a sash. They put fashion or function—which admittedly, Winter was guilty of as well—but these two seemed to push for personal flair rather than functionality.

Winter could only assume that meant Helia was as dangerous as Cinder could be.

That being said, it seemed the blonde’s choice of weapon was a pair of sidearms holstered on her thighs.

The next member of Team THRN was easier to read than the first two.

Ram Bighorn cut an imposing figure with his broad shoulders and defined figure. He wasn’t anywhere near Rayhana’s height, but the ram horns on his head and his stocky build spoke to his strength. A jetpack was strapped to his back and a large warhammer resting on its head sat at his feet.

He seemed tough and brutish, THRN’s equivalent to Rayhana. Although, he seemed eager to throw himself into a fight unlike WCKR’s gentle giantess.

The final member of the other team was… mysterious.

Nix Nocturne seemed average in comparison to the rest of his team. Where the others projected their strengths outwardly, he hid his behind a pair of glasses and a black cloak draped over the upper half of his body. She saw no visible weapons on his form, and no hints of them either.

Winter pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes. This would be her team’s first official fight against another team. Thus far they’d sparred one-on-one and while they had been mostly successful—Winter had struggled against her opponent and Amber had lost to hers—

“You have to be kidding me.”

Icy blue eyes darted to her right and she spotted her teammates glaring across the arena. Both Cinder and Amber had their eyes narrowed while they glared daggers at Helia, who glared back. Amber went so far as to point two fingers at her eyes and then point them at the platinum blonde.

“Do you know her?” Winter asked, glancing between them.

Icy blue eyes glanced from her partner to the platinum blonde across the way.

“Unfortunately,” Cinder growled, placing a hand on her hip and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“We went to Pharos together,” Amber answered with a frown. “She’s a jerk.”

Cinder scoffed, clearly finding her best friend’s description too weak a term. That prompted Winter to raise her eyebrow higher. Whatever bad blood was between them, it seemed to run deep.

“Team WCKR! Team THRN!” Professor Goodwitch tapped her tablet and the aura gauges on their scoreboards filled. “Prepare yourselves!”

THRN got into position: Thorn pulling out two knives. Helia unholstering her sidearms. Rahm picking up his hammer. And Nix spreading his feet apart, parting his cloak, but revealing nothing inside.

Mirroring them, WCKR took ready stances: Winter unsheathing her saber. Cinder flourishing Midnight. Amber twirling Mimameith and training one end of her stave at the other team. And Rayhana calling Blood and Thunder into her hands.

“Remember, a team is the sum of its parts!” Professor Goodwitch proclaimed, her voice ringing like thunder through the auditorium. “You are only as strong as the student next to you!”

The world slowed and the auditorium grew silent. Winter felt her heart race as the battle drew closer, millisecond by millisecond.

“Do you know what her fighting style is?” she quickly asked. “Helia, I mean.”

“She’s good with a sword,” Cinder answered.

Icy blue eyes narrowed and glanced at the platinum blonde’s weapons. Did Helia’s sidearms combine into a sword then?

“How good is her aim?”

Cinder shrugged. “I don’t know, I wasn’t a fan of hers.”

Winter sighed and raised her saber higher.

“Now, begin!”

Professor Goodwitch’s voice echoed but was quickly drowned out by Rahm charging forward, his jetpack propelling him right at Winter and her team.

They parted down the middle, Winter and Cinder dodging left while Amber and Rayhana dodged right. Both pairs jumped back on their feet as fast as they could, but Rahm swung left then right, separating them further.

A glint of steel in the corner of her eye rang alarm bells in Winter’s head and she summoned a glyph to shield herself. A throwing knife embedded itself into it, followed by a second and a third.

Across the arena, Thorn retrieved another pair of knives, threw them with lethal accuracy, and retrieved another pair to throw again. Next to her, Helia opened fire with her sidearms, putting greater pressure on Winter.

Clenching her jaw, WCKR’s leader quickly took in the battlefield as it was: Thorn, Helia, and Nix were still across the arena. Meanwhile, Rahm was in the thick of it, separating their team.

“Cinder,” Winter called, “we need to–” She looked to her right just in time to see Cinder dash off without her. “Cinder!”

Her partner ignored her calls, instead surging forward in a whirlwind of razor-sharp steel.

Rahm was in mid-swing against Rayhana when she descended on him. In a gleaming blur, Cinder slashed him across the back, ducked under his next swing, and swung up, catching him across the chest.

When the ram faunus stumbled back, Cinder stepped forward to attack him, only for Helia to open fire on her. Thankfully, Amber jumped in and twirled Mimameith and blocked the gunfire.

Another flurry of knives assailed Winter and she grunted, feeling her aura strain. Making a choice, she dropped her glyph and ran toward her team.

“Rahm, behind you!” Thorn shouted, prompting the faunus to twist and swing his warhammer blindly.

The head of his weapon was mere inches from Winter when she jumped off a glyph and somersaulted over him. She made to land on her feet, but noticed a black and red blur underneath her. It appeared Cinder had found that very moment as the perfect opportunity to go in again, not noticing her leader’s descent.

“Cinder!” Winter cried, hoping her partner would stop, dodge, catch her, or even just look up.

Cinder did in fact look up, but that was all she could do. Her fiery amber eyes widened when Winter’s shadow draped over her, and then they shut when her partner collided with her. The Schnee heiress ended up crashing on top of her partner and they lay sprawled across the ground in a tangle of limbs.

“Get off!” Cinder hissed, shoving her.

Winter growled and climbed back onto her feet, but made no effort to help the ravenette. Cinder didn’t seem to want it, knocking her shoulder into her when she got up.

Their eyes met briefly and they exchanged spiteful looks before an alarmed cry startled them.

“Watch out!”

Rayhana grabbed them both in her arms, squeezing the air from their lungs as she pulled them out of Rahm’s reach. His warhammer swung past where they had been standing. Before their opponent could bring it up again, a fireball slammed into him, forcing him back.

Amber jumped forward and shot another fireball, warding him off. A hail of gunfire and knives forced her back onto the defensive, however, and she ended up backpedaling while twirling her stave.

“Hey, could we, like, deal with those guys?” Amber asked panickedly.

Winter glanced at her, at Cinder, and at Rayhana. Then, she looked over at the enemy team.

Thorn still had a belt full of knives and two more in her hands. Helia was pacing her shots while reloading one sidearm. Rahm had recovered, but he was pacing now, waiting for the order to strike. And Nix was in reserve, just watching.

“What’s wrong, girls?” Helia called tauntingly. “Scared?”

In the corner of her eye, Winter saw Cinder bare grit teeth and take a step forward. Immediately, the Schnee heiress swept out a hand and stopped the other girl from jumping in again.

“Don’t!” she hissed.

Cinder swatted her hand away, but otherwise listened, keeping her scimitars low with a growl.

Exhaling, Winter briefly studied the battlefield again. They needed suppressing fire like Team THRN, keep them down so they could get close. Rayhana had her machine guns, but her raw strength could barrel through Rahm. Amber’s fireballs could suppress but also obscure, which might let Winter and Cinder up close. Of course, Cinder couple also amplify that effect with her arrows and semblance.

“Amber. Cinder.” Icy blue eyes met earthen brown and fiery amber ones. “Give us covering fire. I want fire and explosives, make as much smoke as you can.”

Amber nodded obediently, but Cinder gave an offended expression.

“What?” she snipped heatedly.

“Just do it!” Winter snapped with a scowl. “Rayhana, you’re with me. We’re going to push in. Hard.”

The ravenette scowled but combined Midnight into its bow form. The elephant faunus nodded and called her hammers into her hands.

“Got it!” Rayhana declared, the corner of her lips tugging up.

“Then move!”

Winter pushed out a hand and summoned a glyph in front of them as a shield. Team THRN took the bait and opened fire on them, knives and bullets crashing against their makeshift cover. At the same time, Amber twirled Mimameith to send off a barrage of fireballs while Cinder let loose a few screaming arrows.

The raucous explosions they unleashed forced Team THRN to briefly scatter. Thorn scampered away to the left, Helia dodged right, and Nix whipped off his cloak, revealing patterns of dust sewn into the fabric. His cloak flashed bright, burning orange and unleashed a wave of fire that collided with Amber’s fireballs and Cinder’s arrows. Both attacks cancelled each other out, but the resulting smoke cloud obscured their vision and that was all Winter needed.

The moment their formation broke, the Schnee heiress surged forward. Rayhana charged behind her, Blood and Thunder in her fists.

Up ahead, Rahm stumbled forward, caught them in his eyes, and raised his warhammer.

“Rayhana!” Winter cried, throwing a hand back and summoning a glyph under the elephant faunus.

“Wha– Whoa!”

She sent WCKR’s muscle rocketing forward past herself and toward THRN’s. Rahm was in mid-swing when his eyes widened and the other faunus slammed into him. They both stumbled back, dazed by the impact and then they gawked at each other.

Rahm recovered first and shot himself at her horns first, slamming into the elephant faunus’ stomach. Rayhana wheezed and lurched forward, backpedaling a few paces while he swung his warhammer up. She managed to throw herself back in time for the weapon’s head to sail past her chin, but momentum sent her tumbling onto her rear.

“Get up!” Winter shouted, running up to her side.

“Y-Yup!” Rayhana stammered panickedly, her voice thin and breathless.

Icy blue eyes darted to her and gave her a once-over. She was hunched forward and panting, one hand pressed against her stomach. Her aura had absorbed the blow from Rahm’s attack, but the hit had forced the air from her lungs.

She could stand, but could she swing?

Suddenly, there was movement in the corner of her eye, and Winter summoned another glyph. Rahm’s warhammer beat against it and she scowled before tapping into a lightning crystal on her bracelet. Her glyph flashed yellow and arcs of electricity jumped across it as it spun faster.

The ram faunus had a brief moment to observe the change before she struck him point-blank with a lightning bolt.

Rahm slid back, his boots scraping against the floor but his body spasming from the harsh shock. A startled cry emitted from the far side of the arena and Winter caught a glimpse of Thorn shooting a panicked look at her teammate. Immediately after, the other team lead glared daggers at her before she threw a literal one.

Winter dodged the knife as well as the second, and then she deflected the third. Unfortunately, Thorn kept throwing more as she ran, dodging Amber and Cinder’s explosive onslaught at the same time.

“Rayhana?” Winter called, hoping her teammate had recovered.

Thankfully, the elephant faunus had because one of her hammers flew past Winter’s head and almost slammed into Thorn. The mouse faunus had a half-second to gawk before she was forced to dive, narrowly dodging the projectile.

“Thank you,” Winter praised, stealing a glance over her shoulder as Rayhana stepped up next to her.

“Mmhm.” Rayhana held up a hand, activated her cuff, and called her hammer back. “Now what?”

She glanced around their surroundings and opened her mouth to answer, but a sudden haze of bullets cut her off. A few shots struck Winter’s side and she cried out in pain, stumbling away from the attack. She hastily summoned a glyph to shield herself, but a burst of violet aura stopped her.

Looking at Rayhana, she found the elephant faunus holding up her Panic Bubble, protecting them from Helia’s gunfire.

“Thank you again,” Winter breathed, rubbing where she’d been hit.

“Yep!” Rayhana responded in a strained tone, all her focus on holding up the barrier.

Inhaling deeply now that she had some breathing room, Winter surveyed the arena. Thorn was picking herself back up, having knocked her head on the ground when she dodged Rayhana’s hammer. Helia was reloading her guns. Rahm was just barely recovering from her lightning bolt. And Nix was somewhere in all the chaos–

Suddenly, a blur of black and red shot past the bubble, shooting straight for Helia.

It only took the Schnee heiress a second to recognize who it was and she immediately felt outrage ignite inside her like a blazing fire.

“Cinder, what are you doing?” she shouted, watching her partner break formation.

Cinder ignored her and pounced on Helia, who yelped and backpedaled.

Flitting her eyes around and swiftly reading the battlefield, Winter came up with a rudimentary plan.

“Rayhana, drop the bubble!” she commanded, gripping her saber tightly. “You deal with Rahm, I’m going after Cinder!”

“Are you sure–”

“Just do it!” Winter snapped.

Her teammate gave her a final hesitant look before she obeyed, dropping her Panic Bubble. Immediately, Winter dashed forward on a glyph, her last glimpse of Rayhana being the faunus girl grabbing her hammers.

Shooting across the arena, Winter and headed straight for Helia. Cinder was already engaging her, cutting and slashing and slicing in a whirlwind of steel. The platinum blonde was desperately trying to ward her off, slapping her handguns together so the grips pulled back into handles and the undersides elongated into the blades of a broadsword.

In the corner of her eye, Winter saw Thorn sprinting across the floor to join the battle. She intercepted the other team lead, thrusting her saber forward and slicing her across the back before the mouse faunus could attack Cinder.

Thorn yelped and crashed into the ground, but just as quickly rolled and jumped back onto her feet. She sneered and flourished two throwing knives.

“Hey,” Thorn greeted with a scowl.

“Hello,” Winter replied, narrowing her eyes and studying her opponent.

“I’ve been waiting for this.”

Winter arched an eyebrow. There was something behind those words, something like deep-seated resentment or vengeful wrath. Why? She didn’t know.

Exhaling, Winter took a step back and raised her blade. Thorn creased her brow and raised her knives too, but didn’t move otherwise. When WCKR’s team lead moved left, THRN’s leader moved right.

Winter slid one foot forward, testing her patience. Thorn twitched, but didn’t lose her nerve. She took a full step forward and Thorn narrowed her eyes further, but then she grew a smirk.

Suddenly, a pink flicker appeared behind Thorn and icy blue eyes focused on the mouse faunus’ tail. It swayed for a second, but then stiffened and pulled back. The device on the tip of her tail opened up and glowed purple with gravity dust, and Team THRN’s leader's smirk grew wider with excitement.

Winter arched an eyebrow, glanced at her opponent’s knives, and then connected the dots. Acting swiftly, she twirled around and summoned a glyph just in time to block a cloud of knives from shredding her to pieces. Every single blade Thorn had thrown earlier came flying back to her, drawn in by the transponder on the mouse faunus’ tail–

“Ack!” A breathless cry escaped Winter when Thorn sliced her across the back.

She swung her sword arm to ward the other girl away, but Thorn parried the attack and cut her again. Her aura strained, flaring bright white, and Winter panicked, uncertain what to do.

Her opponent’s grin shone in the light and the Schnee heiress felt her heart jump into her throat. Just as the mouse faunus thrust a knife forward, however, a blur of silver deflected the attack and a second cut the other girl across the chest.

Thorn yelped and stumbled back, fixing her footing only for Cinder to jump, twirl, and kick her in the face. The holo-screens whined as Thorn’s gauge depleted.

Winter dropped her glyph and panted, feeling her aura diminish the sting of Thorn’s knives. She glanced at Thorn, who appeared dazed, stumbling and trying to keep herself upright by leaning against the arena wall. Flicking her eyes over to where the ravenette had been, she found Helia nursing her arm and missing one sidearm.

“You're welcome.”

Cinder flashed Winter a smug smirk and the Schnee heiress felt that irritating fire in the pit of her stomach burst into a raging inferno. She clenched her jaw in a vain attempt to contain her indignation, but ultimately she unleashed it. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, her lips carved into a sneer, and she shoved Cinder back a step with her free hand.

“You ignored my instruction!” Winter spat, venom dripping from her words. “I told you to give us covering fire!”

Fiery amber eyes narrowed dangerously. 

“You didn’t need it–”

Suddenly, a knife sliced Cinder across the cheek, her aura flaring a burning orange color. She hissed and tumbled back and they both turned to look at Thorn. The mouse faunus pulled another throwing knife off her belt and threw it.

Winter stepped back, twirled, and danced on her feet to dodge the razor-sharp projectiles. Cinder parried a few knives but dodged the rest, ducking and weaving. Fiery amber eyes glanced at icy blue ones, shooting WCKR’s leader a spiteful look.

“I’m going in!” Cinder shouted, voice harsh and determined.

Both anger and alarm flared inside Winter, and she called after her partner.

“Wait, don't–” Winter growled. “Cinder!”

The ravenette reared her head and shot her a vicious look. “Stop telling me what to do!”

“Guys, watch out!”

Icy blue eyes quickly darted across the arena toward Amber, who was hiding under a violet canopy. Rayhana stood beside her, holding up a bubble shield. What was she doing? She was supposed to be fighting–

As if on cue, Rahm appeared and swung his warhammer. Cinder didn’t have time to dodge and Winter could only watch as the ravenette took the brunt of the attack with her arm. The sheer force of the blow sent her flying into the wall. Her aura flared burning orange again and up above Cinder’s gauge drained.

A gunshot sounded and Winter’s shoulder flared with pain. She grunted and saw Helia training her remaining sidearm on her.

Summoning a glyph, Winter dodged the next shot and lunged at her. The platinum blonde’s eyes widened in alarm, panic filling them–

“Winter, don’t! Her semblance!”

Suddenly, Helia’s lips curved into a wicked grin as blinding sunlight spilled off her lips and exploded out of her eyes.

A pained cry spilled off the Schnee heiress’ lips as Helia’s semblance seared through her vision, leaving her blinded. A second later, she felt a warhammer slam into her side and she felt herself crash against the wall. Up above, her aura gauge shrank.

The locker room was silent as Team WCKR stashed away their weapons and slipped back into their uniforms. They’d barely said a word since their loss against Team THRN, but that was alright since everyone else had decided to speak for them. All the other first-year teams had whispered and gossiped about them throughout the rest of the class, expressing either sympathy or amusement.

Team THRN had been particularly vocal about their victory, almost tauntingly so. No, most definitely tauntingly. For whatever reason, Thorn and her lackeys had kept pointing smug looks in their direction.

Winter let out a heated breath and shut her locker a bit harder than she meant to. The loud bang echoed through the room, drawing her teammates’ attention briefly. They looked away a second later, going back to getting dressed.

Class had ended several minutes ago and the rest of the first-years had already left. Only Winter and her team were left in the locker room, the sting of defeat making them lethargic.

After Helia had blinded Winter and Rahm had incapacitated her, Cinder had—expectedly—tried to take them all on herself. Rayhana had run in to support her, but they’d forgotten about Nix, who’d blocked Amber’s attacks with his dust-woven cloak before bringing her down. Moments later, after Winter had regained her sight, Professor Goodwitch had called the match and Team WCKR had dragged themselves out of the arena, their heads lowered in shame….

The taunting laughter and ridicule of her classmates rang in Winter’s ears, they niggled the back of her mind. It tormented her as the match replayed in her head over and over on loop, every mistake made plunging another knife into her stomach. The more she thought about her missteps, the more she felt gutted, and the more she realized it had been her team’s fault.

If Amber had kept throwing fire Thorn, Helia, and Nix would have been under continued pressure.

If Rayhana had used even half her strength, she could have contested Rahm’s aggression.

If Cinder hadn’t decided to ignore orders, then their team wouldn’t have fallen apart.

If everyone had just listened to her, then maybe they could have won!

“Hey, Stealth and Survival got cancelled again.”

Winter clenched her jaw to stop herself from snapping instinctively. Looking over, she saw Amber holding up her scroll, showing them an email she’d received. 

“Weird, right…?” she reported, voice withering meekly the longer Winter’s narrowed eyes lingered on her.

“Yes, strange,” Winter drawled noncommittally. “I suppose we have some free time then.”

Maybe they could use this time to actually coordinate.

Icy blue eyes leered at Rayhana, who struggled to tug the hem of her skirt down her long legs, Amber, who fiddled with her scroll absentmindedly, and Cinder, who hid behind the door of her locker.

Should she make them jump back into the arena with her? Should she remind them what teamwork was? How about sitting them down and lecturing them on how to coordinate?

“Ngh….” Nearby, Rayhana rubbed her stomach tenderly and Winter recalled seeing Rahm throw himself headfirst into her midsection, horns-first.

“You okay?” Amber asked, stepping over.

“Yeah,” the elephant faunus whimpered, “Rahm just hits hard.”

Winter scoffed, irritation growing within her like a rash.

“I thought you had thick skin?” the Schnee heiress droned pointedly.

Rayhana blinked at her and the faunus’ face blanked. Slowly, though, her jade green eyes widened with shock and her subordinate stared at her, mouth ajar.

“What?” she asked, something between confusion and betrayal in her voice.

Winter arched an eyebrow at the faunus’ dramatics, caught off-guard by her reaction. Unfortunately, before she could answer her inquiry, a locker door slammed shut. Cinder reared her resentful countenance in their direction and rolled her eyes.

“Maybe if someone had thought of a better plan, she’d be alright,” the ravenette sniffed.

The snow white-haired girl balled her hands into fists and she clenched her jaw tightly. She restrained herself; she tried to keep her cool in the face of more of Cinder’s antagonism. The firebrand was always trying to get a rise out of her.

“Excuse me?” Winter grated out.

Cinder sniffed. “You heard me.”

Earthen brown eyes bounced between the two girls and Amber took a step forward. Rayhana reacted differently, stepping back as the tension in the locker room grew thicker.

“Maybe, if someone had come up with a better plan, then we might’ve won.”

Cinder shifted her weight from one hip to the other, folded her arms over her chest, and shot Winter a challenging glare.

Winter felt her nerves begin to fray, the strain of pressure making them unravel. A headache swelled in her head, building and growing as her mind became filled with heinous thoughts.

“Well, maybe if someone had stuck to the plan, everything would have turned out perfectly fine,” Winter rebuked, venom dripping from each word.

The raventte scoffed and leaned forward, using her height to look down on her. “Oh, really?”

A flame burst to life in the pit of her stomach, lashing out and licking her insides. It grew higher and higher, melting her cool and collected demeanor. Her solemn mask finally cracked and her lips fell into a deep scowl that parted to reveal her gnashed teeth. 

Something inside her finally snapped and she took a bold step forward, accepting Cinder’s challenge.

“If you have something to say, then just say it!” Winter barked, at her wits’ end with the firebrand.

The other girl’s eyes widened but immediately narrowed again. Something like glee glinted in her eyes and she placed her hands on her hips.

“I already did,” Cinder retorted. “There were a hundrd ways we could have played that match and you chose the wrong one.”

Winter scoffed, rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest as bramble coiled around her lungs. 

“Oh, my apologies, I didn’t realize you were a master strategist,” she sneered. “What did you have in mind then? Hmm? How should we have countered Team THRN?”

Cinder opened her mouth to retort once more, but no witty remark escaped her. The ravenette visibly faltered, probably realizing she had no spiteful comebacks to give. She immediately bristled and Winter sniffed, tipping her nose up in delight.

“Hey, guys, come on,” Amber interjected, taking another step forward to get in-between them. “It was our first match. It didn’t mean anything–”

A growl built in the back of Winter’s throat and she shot the brunette a glare. “Be quiet, Amber!”

Earthen brown eyes blinked wide and Amber backed up, startled. A trickle of guilt ebbed into the Schnee heiress' heart and she almost dropped the animosity she nursed in her heart. Tragically, Cinder ruined any chances of that when she stormed forward and shoved her face into Winter’s.

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Cinder barked defensively.

Winter growled and straightened her back, trying to match the ravenette’s height.

“She’s my subordinate, just like you!” Team WCKR’s leader snapped sternly before she started counting off their failures on her fingers. “I told you to provide suppressing fire and you disobeyed me! I told Amber to do the same and she stopped too! And I specifically remember ordering Rayhana to keep Rahm busy! Shall I take a guess at what she was doing?”

Icy blue eyes flicked between the three of them. Cinder’s face grew redder as she refused to accept the truth. Amber looked away and rubbed her arm self-consciously, unable to argue her point. And the Rayhana shrank in deference to her. Even now, the taller girl lacked a backbone.

“What is wrong with you all?” Winter exploded, finally at her wits’ end with them.

The other girls looked up at her in disbelief, then her partner crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“What’s wrong with us?” Cinder scoffed defiantly.

“Yes!” Winter answered, breathing fire. “You! All of you! Why can’t you do anything right?”

These past two weeks at Beacon, they’d stumbled and tripped over themselves. Amber and her inability to focus! Rayhana and her meek nature in the face of danger! And Cinder and her damned pride! The Schnee heiress felt like a circus performer leading a troupe around campus with these three trailing behind her.

“You can’t seem to pay attention in class for the life of you! And if you do, you can’t seem to move on from whatever topic intrigues you!” Winter vented, jabbing an accusing finger in Amber’s direction before pointing it at Rayhana. “You, for some reason I cannot understand, came to a huntsmen academy with a fear of grimm and cower in the face of danger. And you–” She glared daggers at Cinder “–refuse to listen to me no matter how many times I give you an order!”

Her stinging rant echoed through the locker room and rang in her ears. It left her teammates reeling, the three of them stunned by the sheer vitriol she spewed. Maybe they’d finally get just how fed up she was with their blunders.

“That’s harsh,” Amber remarked with dismay.

The brunette cradled her chest and Rayhana mirrored the action, except the elephant faunus also chose to back away and turn her face to the left, hiding her downcast countenance. The duo refused to meet her face, but Cinder dared to bore her fiery amber eyes into Winter’s forehead until she grew a humored smirk.

“Unbelievable.” Cinder combed fingers through her hair and turned around to pace.

Icy blue eyes narrowed. “What?”

Her partner whirled around, cape fluttering and hair sweeping behind her. “You’re saying we’re the problem?”

“Am I wrong?” Winter challenged, shifting her weight from one hip to the other.

“Did you ever think you were the problem?”

Amber’s brow creased and she took a step toward her best friend. “Cinder.”

Cinder ignored her, twisted around, and stormed forward. Winter fixed her stance and stood tall, but the closer her partner got, the bigger the lump in her throat became.

“Y-You’re a child,” she stammered out.

“And you’re delusional, ice queen , if you think we’re the only ones who messed up earlier!” Cinder spat, punctuating every beat of her rant with a firm step. “We followed your orders , and guess who couldn’t read the situation? Who couldn’t keep up with us? Who did I have to save because she got in over her head with Thorn?”

The Schnee heiress furrowed her brow and opened her mouth, but her voice was lost to her. Cinder’s words gutted her like a knife, slicing into her and forcing the air from her lungs. She did manage to muster up enough courage to swallow the lump in her throat and retort weakly.

“I’m not listening to this.” Winter struggled to hold her composure as Cinder loomed over her. “You’re just trying to save face.”

“Am I?” Cinder laughed and shook her head. “Rayhana wasn’t scared of Rahm. She didn’t back off because she was afraid; she went to protect Amber. And Amber stopped firing because she was running out of fire dust.” She gestured at the faunus and brunette before pressing a hand against herself. “And me, you can't even see that I was taking initiative! I'm not just a good archer, I'm the best frontline fighter out of all of us!”

Her partner was wrong. She had to be wrong; all Cinder ever did was pointlessly argue and spit barbed quips. This was just another tantrum of hers and yet her words, for all the toxic venom and acid that dripped from them, sounded accurate. The tentative looks on Amber and Rayhana’s faces only made the rant sound more believable.

Every point Cinder made was as razor sharp and lethal as a dagger. They pierced Winter’s icy cold exterior and cut into her heart. Even if the Schnee heiress wanted to defend herself, she could do nothing but listen, her spirit crushed and ground into dust.

“Do you get it now?” Cinder poked a finger against her chest and Winter stepped back. “If you want to blame someone for all this, blame yourself!” She combed fingers through her hair and laughed cynically. “Ozpin really decided to make you the leader? What a joke.”

The silence that followed was deafening. No one dared to speak, or maybe they were simply incapable of it. The tension in the air was suffocating; it strangled Winter as much as Cinder’s words bled her of her confidence. Though she wanted to speak up and rebuke her statements, she couldn’t muster the strength to. The only thing Winter managed to do was hold eye contact with Cinder, a single act of defiance to help her retain a modicum of dignity amidst this degradation.

A torturous eternity seemed to pass as Team WCKR lingered in the fallout of Winter and Cinder’s argument. Then, the latter walked away, her brow tense and lips pressed into a thin line. She left without a word, heels clicking against the floor.

“Winter?”

Winter didn’t answer Amber, and instead, she stormed out of the locker room before they saw her solemn mask break.

Cinder had imagined her first year at Beacon to be one full of fun and adventure. She’d seen herself leading a team of prodigies, impressing her professors and performing incredible feats of heroism. Classes might’ve been boring, but they’d learn, and afterward they would hang out in their dorm or roam around campus with new friends they’d make.

Obviously, all of that was just fantasy. Her professors might’ve been impressed, but their classes droned on forever. She’d yet to get the chance to perform an incredible feat besides slaying the manticore, but that had been after nearly dying to a geist because of a stupid miscalculation. And she wasn’t the leader of a team; she was subordinate to a prissy rich brat who kept trying to play at being a leader!

“Ugh!” Cinder groaned out loud, trying to vent her frustrations audibly.

It didn’t work. Winter’s bossy face kept popping up her head and she couldn’t seem to get rid of it. She wanted to punch her in that pompous face of hers, or maybe just give her a stinging slap. Something physical, something she could feel, but obviously that would start something they both couldn’t take back.

Breathing in deeply and exhaling heavily, Cinder tried again, found that it didn’t work, and just stomped away again. Where was she anyway?

Fiery amber eyes flicked up and glanced around. She was heading on a familiar path to the faculty residences, muscle memory dragging her to her and Glynda’s apartment. The phantom comfort of her bedroom with its posters, trophies, and belongings drew her a few steps closer, but then she cast the notion aside. She was a student now, she couldn’t just walk in without consulting Glynda—and Glynda probably didn’t want to talk to her during school hours….

A pang of sorrow struck her heart and Cinder sighed. She swiveled on her heel and headed for the dorms. Might as well get some rest after that catastrophic defeat.

But what if Winter was there?

Cinder slowed to a stop, her eyes glued to the pavement. A cool breeze blew past her, tugging on her hair and dragging her cape away from her for a brief moment, long enough to make her feel naked. Vulnerable.

What happened next? Their fight was calamitous; there was no way either of them was just going to forget it, even if they wanted to. Winter deserved to get the cold, hard truth pressed against her face, but she had a feeling the rich brat wouldn’t take it without giving some back.

Her stomach roiled uncomfortably and she shifted her feet anxiously.

Ugh, why was the ice queen still on her mind?

“Someone seems deep in their thoughts.”

Cinder gasped and looked up, discovering a familiar olive green scarf in front of her. Just above it, a pair of glasses glinted in the sunlight until Ozpin pulled them down to look her in the eye.

“Ozpin–” Cinder bit her tongue and froze. “Er, Professor Ozpin”

She straightened her posture and took a deep breath. Familiar with him or not, he was Beacon’s headmaster and she couldn’t just interact with him casually. Glynda might skin her alive if she did.

“Good morning, Cinder,” he greeted with a smile. “How are you?”

“Doing good,” she lied, hiding the frantic ball of anxiety buzzing in her chest. 

Soft, almond brown eyes watched her for a moment, then he smiled. It was a small smile, the kind he always gave that let him retain his solemn demeanor, but also let him show a hint of cordialness. It was what had made him so endearing to her throughout her childhood at Beacon.

“That’s wonderful,” he remarked with a nod. “And how was class?”

She clenched her jaw and forced her lips not to dive into a frown. Balling her fists, she shrugged and shook her head noncommittally.

“It was fine,” she lied again, unwilling to reveal the depths of her resentment toward Winter and consequently her outrage at his choice to make her leader.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Ozpin stepped around her, tapping his cane on the ground. “Well, I shouldn’t take up your time, should I? Enjoy the rest of your day, Cinder.”

He walked away, leaving her standing there in the middle of the street with a single question in her head: What if she did tell him? 

“Wait!” Cinder swiveled on her heel and chased him.

He’d only walked a few feet away from her, but the distance felt so much longer. Ozpin stopped for her and turned to face her, prompting her heart to stop and plummet deep inside of her.

“Yes?” he asked quizzically while a lump formed in her throat.

Cinder swallowed it and took another deep breath. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

He offered her an encouraging smile.

“Feel free to,” he said without a hint of hesitation.

She opened her mouth to pose the question, but the words didn’t come out. She couldn’t find them. For a moment, she was stumped on how exactly to frame the inquiry without making it sound like an accusation or an arrogant demand. Her bitterness toward the Schnee heiress still afflicted her and she didn’t want Ozpin to recognize it when she asked the question; otherwise, he might realize the underlying one beneath it.

It took her a long while to finally ask him what she wanted, but he waited patiently for her.

“I… It’s just… I was wondering why you chose Winter?” Cinder finally stammered out. “To be team leader, I mean.”

One of her heels scraped against the cement underneath them and she dug the tip of it into the ground. She tucked her hands behind her back and under her cape, hiding them as they wrung each other. And she struggled to keep her lips pursed as she watched him raise an eyebrow.

A long moment passed, and then another. She stood there, mouth dry and heart racing, while mentally crossing two fingers in the hopes he didn’t perceive the question as a pointed one.

Finally, Ozpin closed his eyes and answered her.

“She showed promise during the initiation,” the headmaster claimed, looking her in the eye, “both promise and exceptional leadership despite her lack of training.”

Cinder swallowed the bitter pill and tried not to wince from every knife stabbing her in the gut.

“And that’s it?” she asked quizzically.

He raised an eyebrow again. “Should there be more?”

The words tumbled out of the ravenette’s mouth before she could stop them.

“Yes? I mean, it takes a lot more than blind luck to be a leader, right?” Cinder laughed to try and alleviate the tension, but it came out dry and cynical. “I mean, a leader has to actually know what they’re doing. They have to be strong and– and swift and confident. They need to be able to read situations fast and be charismatic. People have to look up at them–”

“These all sound like traits particular to you, Cinder.” 

Cinder froze and looked the headmaster in the eye. His almond brown eyes watched her critically, studying her. Evaluating her.

She’d been caught.

“You can feel free to ask what’s really on your mind,” Ozpin offered, solemn face hardening a touch.

The ravenette winced and glanced away, hiding the shame that fell over her countenance. Eventually, though, she mustered the courage to say what she really meant.

“You know I can do all of that too, so why didn’t you choose me?”

Fiery amber eyes locked with almond brown ones and bored into them. In those orbs, she saw no hint of deception, just the truth and only the truth.

“I’ve watched you for a long time now, Cinder. You’ve spent the better part of your youth overcoming your past and training to become a huntress,” he answered, admiration in his voice that quickly disappeared when his face hardened. “But leadership is a heavy burden, one that demands total focus and the will to sacrifice. I’m afraid it’s the one thing you haven’t trained for.”

His words hung in the air, clouding it and dimming the sunlight. Cinder felt her world quaking, the foundations of her dreams cracking. She wrung her hands tighter and swallowed hard before she spoke, grating out her next question.

“…And Winter has?”

Ozpin broke eye contact with her and looked away, a thoughtful look on his face. After a second, he hummed and shook his head.

“No, she hasn’t, but that’s exactly why she needs this.”

Cinder furrowed her brow and shook her head, confused. What kind of answer was that?

“She’s young. Impressionable. Immature. She’s like every other student that starts at Beacon,” he said, shooting her a particular look. “But as I said, she has potential. Perhaps you can’t see it, but for all her faults, Winter Schnee is a born leader. She takes charge when no one else does. She inspires confidence in those around her. And despite her frigid personality, she cannot help but be kind.”

The ravenette scoffed and crossed her arms. Maybe he should’ve been in the locker room and seen just how ‘kind’ Winter was.

“But, as I said,” Ozpin rebutted, “she’s young, which is why she needs others to support her.”

Cinder pulled her eyes away from Ozpin and dropped them to the ground. She heard Ozpin chuckle, then sigh before a shadow reached between them.

His hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up at him, finding the headmaster offering her an encouraging smile.

“Your leader doesn’t need you to obey her, Cinder, she needs you to help her.”

Cinder was infuriating! She was a child! She was– was– Ugh!

Winter growled and ground her teeth into powder. She stomped her heels into the ground and stormed down the street, heading… somewhere! She had no clear direction; she just needed to be anywhere that was far, far away from her partner.

It’d been half an hour since she’d left the Main Auditorium, heading on a walk around campus. She’d hoped that time and some fresh air might help cool her nerves, but they remained frayed. No matter how hard and far she traveled, and how long she spent alone, her mind remained irritated and her spirit remained tender.

Cinder’s admonishments still rang in her ears, searing themselves into her mind. She refused to listen, but the words kept jostling around in her head, poking at her every thought. It was torturous and it was driving her insane!

Winter inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it–

Her nose bumped into someone’s back and Team WCKR’s leader stumbled back. In front of her, a black cape with an amethyst interior swept around a feminine figure and her heart dropped.

Thankfully, it seemed like she’d bumped into the elder Goodwitch, not her daughter.

“Ah, Ms. Schnee,” Professor Goodwitch addressed, face aloof and voice even-toned.

“Professor Goodwitch,” she addressed back, her voice a pitch higher.

Winter cleared her throat and flushed pink. The blonde huntress arched an eyebrow but made no comment.

“I apologize, ma’am,” Winter said as she stepped around the older woman. “I’ll be on my way.”

She picked up her pace quickly, taking long strides to escape the mother of the pain in her rear–

“You appear troubled, Ms. Schnee.”

The Schnee heiress froze, hearing the click of a heel as the professor followed her. Her stomach knotted and tugged painfully while her chest clenched. Was it so easy to tell?

“I’m fine, ma’am,” she reassured, turning to face the huntress with a well-practiced smile, one that was thin but pleasant. “But thank you for your consideration. I’m just dealing with… a momentary issue.”

Emerald eyes studied her for a moment, giving the young team lead a once-over. They searched her from top to bottom, evaluating almost every aspect of her. The deputy headmistress’ gaze was scrutinizing and before her, Winter felt utterly helpless.

“Does this momentary issue have anything to do with Cinder?”

Icy blue eyes widened and her mask—along with her jaw—fell. 

“Uh….” she answered dumbly, not wanting to earn the elder Goodwitch’s ire.

Professor Goodwitch sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, but otherwise did not react negatively. Instead, she offered Winter a neutral expression and relaxed her shoulders disarmingly.

“You can feel free to talk openly about my daughter, Ms. Schnee, she’s no more a student than you are,” she reassured.

Winter bit the inside of her cheek and looked away, still hesitant to speak ill of her daughter. Yet, this was an open invitation to vent her frustrations.

However, what if Professor Goodwitch took offense?

No, she was the deputy headmistress of Beacon, and she had to uphold academic equality. If she used her position to exact punishment unjustly, she would be punished in turn. Abuse of power could not be tolerated so lightly–

“Ms. Schnee?”

Winter swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke.

“We had an argument,” she answered, eyes glued to the ground. “A heated one.”

Professor Goodwitch watched her for a long moment. Then, she closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh.

“Allow me to take a gander.” The blonde huntress looked up and began reciting off a near-exact list of events of what had occurred. “After your poor performance in class, your team fell into infighting. One of you blamed the other, that one blamed another, and eventually they managed to point out a fault you’d rather not recognize. And now, you’re trying to find some justification to denounce that fault.”

Emerald eyes cast a knowing look at Winter, who bowed her head and stared at the ground. Shame weighed her down now that the world knew about what had happened back there. 

Silence filled the space between the teacher and student for a moment, then she heard the professor exhale.

“We all have our weaknesses, Ms. Schnee. We all have our faults, moments when we stumble,” Professor Goodwitch proclaimed, her voice still neutral but no longer even-toned, a touch of encouragement in her words now. “No one is perfect, not even myself. Not even Ozpin.”

Emerald eyes narrowed, plush lips pursed, and the deputy headmistress glared into the distance. Winter arched an eyebrow, but the older woman quickly returned her gaze to her.

“Arguments. Infighting. It’s all a part of the learning curve here at Beacon.” The blonde huntress’ stony face softened for a moment. “You and your teammates come from different walks of life, you’ve seen and experienced things far differently from each other. Cinder most certainly has not lived your life and you haven't lived hers. You were bound to quarrel eventually.”

That… did ease the weight off her shoulders.

A relieved breath escaped Winter before she could help herself. Knowing that this was all a part of the plan—or that it was at least expected of them—made it so much easier to swallow. However, a part of her was disappointed that she’d fallen so easily into such a common proclivity.

“That being said, I suggest you overcome this first hurdle quickly.” Professor Goodwitch’s countenance hardened again. “A team that cannot coordinate is a team that cannot function.”

She tried not to but that festering ball of anxiety in her chest stopped her. When she first arrived at Beacon, she hadn’t expected herself to achieve too much, just what was necessary. Unfortunately, after becoming a team leader, her hopes and dreams had risen, knowing that she had been seen by Beacon’s headmaster, but she found herself in the muck now.

“I understand, but… I just… don’t know.” Winter exhaled, breathing a defeated breath. “I understand Professor Ozpin chose me to be a leader for a reason, but… I don’t know if I can reach his expectations.”

If the huntress sympathized, she did not show it. Instead, she continued to stare at her with an aloof expression. Eventually, however, she spoke up, this time with a touch of understanding and reassurance in her voice.

“Ms. Schnee, from one former team leader to another, allow me to reassure you that you are doing perfectly well,” Professor Goodwitch encouraged. “Being a leader is… hard. We have to understand the extent and the limitations of the role. You’re there to instruct your teammates, but you also have to remember that you don’t control them. They aren’t toy soldiers that can be directed, they’re companions that need to be led.”

Winter deliberated on her words. She spent a long moment trying to make sense of them, dissecting their meaning and absorbing them. It was hard to find the difference between instruction and control, to draw a line between what she knew and what they wanted her to learn.

After a moment, the huntress decided to give her a hint.

“My advice: Communicate,” the deputy headmistress stated. “Talk to each other. Listen to each other. No one will spot your faults better than those right beside you.”

Winter nodded affirmingly, giving no argument despite the resentful spark in the pit of her stomach. It seemed impossible to imagine any of her teammates giving her useful information… Well, Amber probably could if she managed to focus, but Rayhana was dense and Cinder was childish.

“I understand, professor,” she spoke. “Thank you.”

The huntress’ gaze did not flicker and her face did not falter. She stared at her with the same neutral expression.

“You may not like what you hear,” she cautioned knowingly, “but ultimately it will help you grow as both a leader and a huntress.”

A defeated sigh slipped past Winter’s lips and she nodded again. This time, it was more out of conceding to inevitability than understanding.

“I see…. Thank you."

Today had been a total disaster and it wasn't even over yet.

Amber slid forward and laid herself over the table in front of her. Beside her, Rayhana gave her a sympathetic look while chewing on her lunch. Both of them sat in the dining hall, having chosen to snack down their sorrows.

She wasn’t much of a stress eater, but she needed something to fill that void in her chest. Winter’s words had struck deep and ripped out her courage, uprooted her confidence and tossed it aside. She felt hollow. Insecure.

It really didn’t help that people glanced at them every so often, still intrigued by the gossip going around. Speaking of which….

Stealing a glance at her partner, Amber quickly studied the elephant faunus’ face. Rayhana was slouched over the table, poking at her fried rice. A sullen frown had replaced the jovial smile she always wore, her shoulders were drawn down farther than even after the incident in Grimm Studies, and she hadn’t spoken a word since they left class. She was a far cry from her usual self, a shadow of the upbeat girl with a positive attitude.

It hurt to see her like that, and a part of her really wanted to sock Winter in the face for shouting at all of them like she did. However, another part of her also understood why their leader had been so heated.

Amber didn’t want to be the one to tell her partner she had a problem, Winter had already done plenty of that, but she had one. Her phobia could get her killed in the field. It was already killing her right now, with how the rest of the academy was mocking her.

The thing was, though, Rayhana had fought grimm before. She’d stood her ground in the Emerald Forest, crying and screaming, yeah, but she had fought and killed them. She wasn’t a lost cause. She just needed help. She just needed them to believe in her.

“What’re you thinking about?”

Earthen brown eyes blinked as she was yanked out of her musings. Rayhana was looking at her quizzically.

“Nothing,” Amber lied with a shrug.

Rayhana hummed and looked away. She poked her fried rice for a little while longer before she spoke again.

“Do you think they’ll make up?”

She didn’t look back at her, but Amber still glanced away.

“Yeah,” she lied again.

Amber had seen Cinder get riled up before. The ravenette was smooth and suave with all her feminine charm, but she still had a short temper. Plenty of kids back at Pharos had set her off through the years, but she’d never seen her blow up on someone like she had with Winter. Under all that makeup and glamour, she was still that angry kid she’d first met four years ago. 

“You’re sure?” Rayhana turned to look at her with an unconvinced frown. “That was a… really bad fight.”

The brunette hummed in agreement. Her best friend had really torn into the Schnee heiress.

Amber stared off into the distance for a little while, the gears in her head turning. She had no idea where their leader and their teammate had wandered off to. Both of them had been quarreling from the moment they met each other, and their bickering had only intensified over the last two weeks. Finally, the powder keg of unspoken words had exploded and the brunette wasn’t certain if any of them could pick up the pieces.

In a perfect world, Amber would just sit them down and tell them to make up. Unfortunately, Winter was cold and controlling, demanding the best out of them even when they were trying their best. Cinder was proud and petty, desiring all the attention in the world so she could show it just how cool, beautiful, and deadly she was, and if she didn’t get the spotlight, she’d try to steal it. They clashed like fire and ice, and they’d both be dead before they decided to yield to each other.

She could barely see a future where the two settled their rivalry and got alon–

Suddenly, a blur of umber, scarlet, and black appeared in the corner of her vision. A prehensile tail whipped in front of her, snatched a napkin she’d grabbed, and brought it to Team THRN’s leader, who strutted down across the tables.

“Hi, there!” Thorn chirped with a grin before she wiped some food off her face. “How you guys doin’?”

Earthen brown eyes blinked at her, stunned by the mouse faunus’ appearance. The smaller faunus was dressed in her Beacon uniform now, but that didn’t reduce the instinctive dread that throbbed in Amber’s chest at seeing her.

Glancing at Rayhana, the brunette tried to see if her partner knew how to react. The elephant faunus seemed as stunned and stumped as her.

“Uh, hi?” Rayhana greeted awkwardly.

The mouse faunus grinned and plopped down criss-cross applesauce right on top of their table.

“Heya!” Thorn extended a hand toward Rayhana eagerly. “You’re Rayhana, right?”

Rayhana nodded and shook her hand. Thorn’s grin widened and she held it out toward Amber.

“And Amber…?”

“Yeah,” the brunette answered just as hesitantly as she shook her hand. “Did you need something?”

The mouse faunus furrowing her brow and wrinkling her nose. She folded her arms over her chest and nestled tail in her lap.

“Can’t I check in on another team?” she huffed dramatically. “We really gave you guys a beating earlier.”

The corner of Thorn’s lips quirked up proudly, but not smugly. At the same time, the rest of Team THRN walked over, Helia smirking, Rahm carefully handling a plate of red jello, and Nix chewing on a candy bar.

Amber glared daggers at the platinum blonde, who shot her a very smug look back.

“Hey, girls,” Helia greeted snidely, giving a wave.

Amber visibly bristled and sat up, ready to jump onto her feet and sock her old bully in the face. Next to her, Rayhana glanced between the two parties, unsure of what to do at first. Ultimately, she scooched a bit closer to her and got ready to jump up too.

Before a spark could light the powder keg, however, Thorn whipped her head around and shot a pointed look at Helia. The platinum blonde cocked her head back with a startled look, then blushed and looked away.

Earthen brown eyes bounced between the duo, reevaluating her original thoughts on their partnership. Maybe the mouse faunus wasn’t as antagonistic as the K in WCKR thought. Maybe she was the cool head that tempered Helia’s pride.

“Yeah, that was… rough,” Amber spoke, replying to Thorn’s remark.

The mouse faunus bared her teeth with a pained frown, tensed her shoulders, and hissed guiltily. Helia shrugged flippantly, seemingly unsympathetic. Rahm looked up from his jello at Rayhana and gave her an apologetic look. And Nix coughed into a fist.

“You guysh weren’ bah, though–” Rahm paused to swallow the mouthful of jello in his mouth before he continued, “I mean, you got us in a corner a couple of times.”

“Could’ve been better,” Helia muttered.

Thorn’s tail whacked her on the arm and the platinum blonde whined while her leader shot her another look.

“What? All I’m saying is having a Schnee and a nepo baby on your team is a lot of dead weight.”

Amber’s blood boiled and she jumped up with a snarl. Planting her hands on the table, she bared her gnashed teeth and shot Helia a deadly glare.

“Take. That. Back,” she growled protectively.

The platinum blonde’s eyes widened in surprise, caught off-guard by her sudden rage. She took a step back, but immediately narrowed her eyes and tried to move forward to challenge her. Before either of them could collide, however, Thorn whipped her tail in the space between them.

“Calm down, it was just a joke,” Thorn spoke up, holding up her hands.

“It was a bad one,” Rayhana retorted, her arms folded over her chest while she glared intently at Helia.

Amber glanced from Thorn to her teammates, studying their stances. The mouse faunus was visibly on edge, trying to salvage their strained relationship. Helia was actively hostile, still hanging onto their schoolyard rivalry as much as Amber was. And Rahm and Nix were bouncing their eyes between both teams, uncertain if they should come to their teammates’ defense or not.

“I mean, she’s just saying what she’s seeing.” Thorn sat up and placed her hands on her hips. “I know she’s the four-year champ, but come on. She’s kind of full of herself, isn’t she?”

Team THRN snickered and their quiet laughter stabbed into Amber like daggers.

It wouldn’t have hurt so much if they were wrong, but they perfectly described a part of Cinder she always tried to overlook. As great a friend as the ravenette was, she was also a headache at times.

“I suggest you leave my team alone! At once!”

Everyone’s eyes were drawn down the aisles toward the Schnee heiress storming up it. Winter marched with a purpose, her hands balled into fists and eyes narrowed dangerously. Her icy blue orbs glanced between the two parties, guilt showing in them when she looked at her teammates and fury burning in them when she looked at Team THRN.

A second later, Winter came to a stop right beside Rayhana, folding her arms over her chest and directing a glare at Thorn.

Amber glanced at Rayhana in surprise, who glanced back with the same measure of it. Then, the brunette looked up at the Schnee heiress. An hour or so ago, she’d been so bitter, lashing out at them and distancing herself from their failures. Now, she was right here, right next to them. Standing up for them.

The corner of Amber’s lips quirked up and she got up. Crossing her arms over her chest, she mirrored her leader’s stalwart posture. Rayhana quickly did the same, her towering height reinforcing their stance tenfold.

Team THRN collectively blinked at them in surprise, shocked at the sudden reversal. A few seconds passed before Thorn stood up and glowered down at them.

“Well. Well. Well. If it isn’t ‘Little Miss Schnee.’” The mouse faunus leaned forward, using the height the table afforded her to tower over Winter. “I thought you went running home with your tail between your legs.” Thorn’s tail whipped around her, then she cradled it in her hands. “Oop! Sorry, I forgot you hate those.”

Amber furrowed her brow and studied the faunus girl’s face. She saw the dark shadow cast over her previously exuberant countenance, she saw the way her scowl cut deeply, and she saw how her brow creased tensely. Every facet of her exuded barely restrained, deep-seated resentment, a grudge that she was holding against the snow white-haired girl.

It clicked in her head a second later. Thorn didn’t see Winter. She saw the logo in every dust shop, on all those shipping crates, and in every controversial news report.

Winter seemed to realize the same thing, but didn’t snap back immediately. Instead, she breathed in slowly, chose her words, and then retorted, “Unfortunately for you, I decided to stay.”

All around them, students were whistling, gasping, or pulling out their scrolls to record the confrontation.

“Pft!” Helia guffawed. “Unfortunately? If you forgot, we wiped the floor with you guys.”

Winter rolled her eyes, placed a hand on her hip, and leaned forward to give her an unnerving stare. “It was our first team sparring match of the year. Expect us to have sharpened our skills for the next one.”

Rayhana placed her hands on her hips and huffed. Amber pointed two fingers at her eyes and pointed them at Team THRN.

Meanwhile, Thorn rolled her eyes and spat back, “Says the huntress wannabe who can’t tell right from left, up from down, and how to coordinate her team.”

Their leader visibly winced at the barb, Cinder’s spiteful words probably still lodged into her like daggers. Winter faltered and glanced away, the color draining from her face, which only emboldened Thorn to stand up a bit straighter and laugh.

“Honestly, I feel bad for you guys, having to shack up with–”

Suddenly, someone’s pie crashed into the side of Thorn’s head, apple filling and whipped cream splattering over her face and neck.

The mouse faunus squeaked and stumbled to the side, only to step on a food tray and slip. She ended up slamming face-first into Rayhana’s fried rice. All the while, her team gasped and looked across the table to the other aisle. Team WCKR did the same, spotting the final member of their team making her way up to them.

“Cinder!” Amber gasped in surprise, her heart jumping high in mixed reactions of fear and happiness.

“Hi,” Cinder greeted casually, stepping up next to Winter without any hesitation.

The ravenette’s partner blinked at her.

“Hello,” Winter greeted softly. Hesitantly.

Amber watched them with bated breath while they stared at each other, crossing her fingers that things wouldn’t fall apart again. For a moment, Cinder’s wary eyes lingered on Winter, but then they softened. Her tense shoulders loosened and the raventte looked away quickly. On her part, Winter pursed her lips and looked away too. Something like guilt seemed to cross both their faces.

Relief flooded through the brunette and she exhaled.

“You’re back!” Rayhana cried jovially, throwing out her arms to grab her friends in a tight hug.

Unfortunately, both Winter and Cinder backed away, their eyes wide. They waved their hands at her to ward her off and the elephant faunus pouted. The guilt they’d shown was replaced with outright fear and Amber couldn't help but snort then giggle.

Suddenly, however, the sound of Thorn spitting out food grabbed their attention again and Team WCKR looked back at their lunch table.

On top of it, Thorn pulled her face out of the fried rice and pawed the chicken, beef, veggies, and rice off her eyes. Clumps of pie crust, filling, and whipped cream drooled down her hair and neck, prompting her to gag and comb through her umber locks. A few seconds later, she looked at Cinder and glared.

“You– You–” The mouse faunus’ face turned bright red and she whipped her tail out, wrapping it around the closest plate of food: Rahm’s jello.

Snatching it out of his hands, Thorn snarled and bent forward like a cat. Her tail whipped forward, throwing the jello like a catapult threw a stone. It streaked through the air, shooting straight for Cinder’s face.

Suddenly, however, a gray blur caught the plate and they all gawked at the sight of Rayhana reaching over with a long arm.

The elephant faunus’ jade eyes narrowed dangerously and she threw the food back. Thorn squeaked and crouched low, narrowly dodging it by laying herself flat on the table. The plate of jello soared over her and instead slammed into Helia’s face. The platinum blonde gave a muffled yelp and stumbled back into the next table over, slipping in-between some onlooking students.

When the plate slid off, Helia blinked at them with red gelatin slipping down her face like blood.

“Don’t hurt my friends!” Rayhana barked ardently, not a hint of fear or guilt in her voice.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the gentle giantess, stunned by her act of reprisal. She was a student at a huntsman academy, but Rayhana was never one to go looking for a fight let alone instigate one. Well, there was a first for everything.

Steadily, a grin grew on Amber’s face and she placed her hands on her hips, standing proudly next to her partner. On the other side of the elephant faunus, Cinder and Winter exchanged baffled looks before the former gave a sly smile. Just after, their leader sighed but grew a smile of her own.

Reunited literally and figuratively, Team WCKR prepared themselves for battle.

Winter shifted her feet, pushing her right foot forward and sliding her left foot back into a combat-ready pose.

Cinder combed fingers through her hair before sweeping it, as well as her cape, over her shoulder with a smug grin on her face.

Rayhana punched a fist into her open palm, narrowed her eyes, and smiled confidently for the first time today.

And Amber glanced around briefly, taking note of the battlefield before she popped her neck and flashed the other team a grin.

They stared each other down for a tense moment, waiting for each other to make the first move, and then Winter cried out, “Team WCKR, attack!”

And all hell broke loose.

From the moment Rayhana had retaliated, the dining hall had descended into utter chaos.

Winter had led her team into taking the offensive, grabbing the closest trays of food to push Team THRN back. The other team had scattered, but just as quickly rallied and thrown back a volley from today’s menu. Rayhana and Cinder had flipped over a table to defend them, but some food had splattered onto innocent bystanders, some of whom proceeded to join the fight.

The cycle continued and the longer the chaotic battle continued, the more people joined. Soon enough, the entire hall was embroiled in a–

“Food fight!”

Winter glanced at whoever had shouted over the chaos and watched the student get struck down by a bowl of macaroni and cheese.

She winced before turning her attention back to the battle at hand.

Currently, her and her team were hunkered down behind an overturned table. Rayhana and Amber sat to her right, the former cradling an armful of soda cans and the latter collecting said cans spilling out of a broken vending machine right in front of them. While they stockpiled on carbonated ammunition, they also handed them over to her and Cinder, both of whom shook their weapons violently before throwing them out aimlessly into the fray, hoping to ward off nearby enemies.

They were successfully maintaining their defense for the most part, but it wouldn’t last forever.

“Do any one you have eyes on Team THRN?” Winter asked, ducking down after throwing her fizzing explosive.

Both Rayhana and Amber shook their heads, too busy supplying them with ammo. Cinder shook her head too after she dropped back down.

“The last time I saw them Thorn was scurrying away with her tail between her legs.”

Her partner smirked with a smug laugh. Under normal circumstances, Winter would have shot her an aloof look. However, she couldn’t help but give a humored snort, prompting the ravenette to blink at her in surprise.

Unfortunately, their brief moment of reprieve was cut short when a soda can landed right between them. It bounced and rolled, fizzling from the impact.

Icy blue eyes met fiery amber ones, then earthen brown and jade green.

“Scram!” Amber cried as they dashed out of cover.

The soda can exploded, showering their cover in sugary cola. Winter stared at the blast zone for a second, then turned her attention to the sound of another soda can hitting the ground. She found it rolling toward her and the Schnee heiress quickly summoned a glyph to launch herself out of harm’s way.

Shooting to her left, she dodged the carbonated explosion and headed for Amber, who was fending off a pair of teens—one human boy and a faunus girl with dog ears—swinging leeks like batons. The brunette was unarmed, but she wasn’t helpless. Despite backpedaling, she was blocking and parrying their attacks, keeping them from knocking her down.

Narrowing her eyes, Winter jumped into the fray and reinforced her, throwing her right leg up and kicking the human boy away.

A grin spread across her teammate’s face and she elbow blocked the faunus girl’s next attack, wrapped her arm over hers, and drove her knee into their stomach. The teenager dry heaved, the air driven out of her lungs, and she staggered back when Amber let her go.

Winter quickly stepped up next to the brunette, the duo raising their fists against the dog faunus. Their opponent glared at them shortly before a slice of pizza slammed into her head, cheese and toppings splattering over her face. She gave a muffled cry, stumbled away, and tripped over a water bottle.

The W and K of WCKR blinked at their fallen opponent, then looked over when they heard clicking heels. Cinder walked over to them holding a plate full of pizza, smirking proudly.

“Incoming!”

All around them, the rest of the dining hall was in full retreat. Students of all years were running for their lives, heading from the back of the room to the front. Following the direction from which they fled, the trio of girls saw today’s lunch menu raining down on them.

Amber gulped. Winter stared wide-eyed. And Cinder cursed, “Oh crap.”

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, right before they were buried underneath a barrage of food, Rayhana appeared toting a whole table over her shoulders.

Lifting it up, the elephant faunus provided them with a wooden shield to hide underneath. The trio immediately ducked under their teammate, crouching down as she hefted the table over their heads. They heard the thud, splatter, and shattering of food and plates from the onslaught, and they watched Rayhana endure it, refusing to buckle under the assault.

Moments passed before the bombardment ended and, a second later, a sadistic cackle echoed through the dining hall.

“Uh, I think I found them,” Rayhana declared, peeking out from under their table.

Winter glanced at Cinder and Amber, and the trio crawled forward just far enough to look out across the dining hall. At the far end, where the bombardment had come from, there was a veritable mountain of tables stacked on top of each other. How and why they were built up, Winter couldn’t tell, but she spotted various teens trying to climb it and claim the peak.

Currently, Team THRN sat on top of the mountain, their leader seated on the highest table with her subordinates on a few just beneath her.

Icy blue eyes narrowed and glared daggers at the mouse faunus. Despite the vast distance between them, she could tell Thorn was glaring back at her.

“So, what’s the plan?” Rayhana asked, dropping their table in front of them and turning it into a wall.

They scurried forward and pressed their backs against the table, using the moment to catch their breath. The sounds of battle rose again around them, and anyone who hadn’t been knocked down by the bombardment jumped back into the fray. Fortunately, none of them targeted WCKR.

“Well, ice queen?” Cinder elbowed her arm and arched her eyebrow. “What is the plan?”

Winter narrowed her eyes and exhaled, unwilling to admit she didn’t have one. So, after taking a deep breath, she glanced around and took in their surroundings. There had to be something that could help them.

Right now, they were seated in the middle of the dining hall, the table mountain behind them and the exit at the far end. A number of skirmishes had broken out all around them, but a vast majority of the other teens were racing for the mountain or the exit.

Logically speaking, they should leave before someone arrived to stop the fighting. However….

Winter peeked over the table and leered at Team THRN on top of their throne.

Sitting back down, she glanced at the various foods scattered across the ground and then she looked at her team. Rayhana was watching her with an expectant look while she twiddled her side bangs. Cinder was trying to clean off some gunk on her cape with a napkin she’d found. And Amber was staring off into space again… or rather, she was staring at a table nearby topped with a pair of baguettes.

“Amber?” Winter reached over, grabbed her shoulder, and shook her back to reality. “Amber!”

Earthen brown eyes blinked and widened, and the brunette perked up with something like realization on her face.

“I, uh… Idea! I have an idea!” she blurted out abruptly, jumping to her feet. “We need food!”

They all stared at her in utter bafflement.

“What?” Cinder questioned, staring at her friend as if she’d gone insane.

Amber pointed at the table she’d been staring at. “Cinder, grab those baguettes!”

The ravenette followed her finger to the pair of baked goods, then exchanged a look with Winter. The Schnee heiress shrugged before she turned her attention back to Amber.

“Amber, what are–”

“Uh… Rayhana!” The brunette pointed over their cover a little further into the dining hall. “There’s a turkey over there!”

Rayhana peeked over their cover. “Yeah… what about it?”

“Come on, let’s grab it!”

Amber put a foot on the table they hid behind, ready to climb over it. Winter stopped her, however, grabbing her arm and yanking her back down.

“Amber, wait!” Winter snarled, frustration building in her again. “Get back here! You’re not making–”

“Hold on.” Cinder grabbed her shoulder and shot her a sharp look.

Winter whipped her head around and shot her partner a glare. The daggers in her heart still stung, her insults still burning fresh in her mind. She wasn’t eager to take the ravenette’s advice, not now and perhaps not ever… and yet….

Winter took a deep breath and let go of her glare, instead looking the firebrand in the eye.

“What?” she inquired cooly.

Cinder stared at her for a moment, then pointed her chin at the brunette.

“Hear her out,” she advised before looking up at her friend. “Amber, what are you thinking?”

The brunette glanced between them and shrugged.

“We need weapons, right?” Amber grinned mischievously before her eyes darted straight down. “Ooh! Speaking of which!”

Amber hopped over the barrier, grabbed something off the ground, and handed it to Winter.

The Schnee heiress stared at the fork she’d been given. 

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she demanded.

Amber giggled. “You use a parrying dagger, right?”

Icy blue eyes blinked at her while Cinder snorted. Amber flashed her another smile before she grabbed Rayhana’s hand and led her out of cover.

“Come on! We gotta hurry!”

Winter watched them go, too baffled by the brunette’s plan to stop her. Cinder ran off to grab her weapons a second later, leaving her to come up with some sort of plan.

Right now, everyone was scrambling to claim the mountain. There was fighting all over the mountain, but the competitors climbing it seemed to pause every so often to deal with anyone else scrambling up behind them. Newcomers to the fight were sent tumbling down the heights with faces full of food. The ones who’d made it up were struggling to hold their places along the summits.

They couldn’t just charge into the fray recklessly lest they get bombarded again. They needed to be calculated and precise, aiming for a part of the battle where they could pierce through the base of the mountain and begin their ascent. Jumping right in would only leave them wading through the skirmishes, but if they pushed in hard….

Winter’s eyes traveled to Rayhana, who’d ripped off the legs of the roasted turkey Amber had pointed her toward.

Charging in without a plan was out of the question, but using brute force to break through the front line could work. Rayhana could barrel right through the competition, stampede over them, and the rest of WCKR could follow her in. From there, they could climb with her knocking everyone else out of the way.

It was a sound strategy… yet it didn’t feel right.

Icy blue eyes flicked over at Cinder, who was testing out her baguettes against a peer foolish enough to attack her.

Her partner’s snide words rang through her head again. The wounds she’d inflicted were still fresh, but they helped remind her just exactly what had gone wrong in their last battle.

Rayhana had been hesitant to rush Team THRN with Winter before. When she’d thrown her into Rahm, that had only made things worse. The elephant faunus was strong, yes, but not in the way she thought.

Rayhana didn’t swing her hammers recklessly, not even when that boarbatusk had charged at her. She didn’t go for the killing blow like Winter or Cinder, she stayed with them and waited. In the Emerald Forest, she had been afraid of grimm but had fought when they were in danger.

Her mind traveled to her semblance, her ‘Panic Bubble’, and it traveled to just now when she’d held up the table to protect them.

“Hmm.” Winter stroked her jaw, a new plan coming to mind.

“Finally, have a plan?” 

She glanced to her right and found Cinder walking up next to her, twirling an aura-reinforced baguette in one hand. Her partner gave her an expectant look, one eyebrow raised and a slight smirk on her lips.

Winter sniffed but nodded.

“In fact, I do.” Winter moved out from cover, flipping her fork over in her hand. “Follow me… and please try to keep up.”

She flashed Cinder a playful smile and ravenette’s smirk widened. They ran toward the mountain, passing Rayhana, who quickly chased after them. A little further ahead, Amber had grabbed a pole that’d been broken off the wall and was using it as a makeshift quarterstaff.

“Rayhana, grab that table!” Winter shouted, pointing her chin toward the mentioned furnishing.

The elephant faunus obeyed, splitting off to follow her instruction while Winter slid up next to Amber. The brunette stole a glance at her, but quickly returned her focus on twirling her staff to deflect the various foods and debris being thrown at her.

“Cinder, take over defense!” Winter instructed as her partner joined them. “Amber, can you find a weak point?”

Cinder flourished her baguettes and tried her best to shield them. Meanwhile, Amber slowed her attacks 

She watched the brunette look up at the obstacle in front of them. Her eyes darted about the heights, studying the way each table was stacked on another. It took her a total of six seconds to point a finger at one particular spot near the heart of the mountain.

“Right there,” Amber declared, “under that overhang!”

Winter hummed and eyed the spot. It was just above the foot of the table mountain, supporting a precarious number of other tables on top of it. One good hit would disrupt the whole balance of the structure and bring it toppling down.

“Watch out!”

Glancing at Cinder, she watched her partner backpedal, her fiery amber eyes wide with fear. Following her gaze, Winter spotted another barrage of today’s menu coming down on them. Thankfully, she’d anticipated it.

“Excuse me!” A shadow fell over them as Rayhana rushed over, toting the table she’d grabbed on her shoulders. “Coming through!”

“Rayhana, you know what to do!” Winter barked, stepping over to her. ”Everyone else, gather around!”

Just as the bombardment came down, Rayhana lifted her table up and braced against it, guarding them from a gunky fate. The sound of food and plates crashing against the wooden barrier rang in their ears like gunfire while they weathered the storm. They crouched around the elephant faunus, gripping their pseudo-weapons tightly and watching her stand her ground against the onslaught.

She was the immovable wall to an unstoppable force. Perhaps she did shy away from initial confrontations, but this perfectly demonstrated that if push came to shove, she would push back twice as hard. Rayhana wasn’t the brute she presumed her to be. She was a guardian.

A pleased hum escaped Winter as she peeked out from under their cover.

“Rayhana, do you see that weak point?” WCKR’s leader asked, pointing a finger. “Under the overhang?”

The faunus girl squinted. “No?”

“Right there!” Amber crawled a few steps forward and pointed too.

“…Yeah? What about it?”

The bombardment slowed down, the sound of crashing plates and splattering meals diminishing. Steadily, Rayhana rose a little higher, no longer burdened by the weaponized lunch menu.

Jade green eyes glanced down at icy blue ones and Winter presented her subordinate with a smile.

“Hit it,” she instructed.

Rayhana blinked at her, and then she grinned.

Fixing her stance, Rayhana lifted the table higher, some slop drooling off its edges. Everyone scrambled out from beneath her, giving her space as she reeled her weapon back. Then, the elephant faunus sucked in a deep breath, took two steps forward, and tossed the table.

It soared through the dining hall, flying over two teenagers’ heads before making contact just beneath the overhang. 

A raucous crash echoed through the hall and everyone froze. Their eyes turned to the table mountain as it buckled, its delicate framework compromised. Within seconds, the poorly constructed edifice collapsed forward, lurching and falling apart. The tables that composed it tumbled downward and anyone unfortunate enough to have been brawling on its heights was sent plummeting down to the food-soiled floor.

In the case of Team THRN, the mouse faunus and her lackeys, who had occupied the wooden peak, desperately tried to descend the mountain but ended up slipping. They disappeared amidst the rubble along with most of the other combatants, but Winter didn’t waste any time waiting for them to rise back up.

“Team WCKR, move out!” she commanded, raising her fork.

The other girls echoed her determination with battle cries and they charged forward together.

Rahm was the first member of THRN to get up and he gawked at them wide-eyed before Cinder descended on him. Wielding her aura-reinforced baguettes, she swung and thwacked him in a flurry of blows before kicking him back. The force of the attack sent him sliding and crashing through several tables before he caught himself.

The ram faunus hissed and staggered but then grabbed a pole impaled into a whole pumpkin. He roared and charged at the ravenette, swinging his makeshift warhammer wildly.

Her partner dodged and weaved, ducking under one swing, leaning back on the next, and fully throwing herself to the right on the third. When he went for an overhead attack, Rayhana appeared and caught the shaft of his weapon with one hand.

“Back off!” the elephant faunus roared, reeling back a hand gripping one of her turkey legs.

Yanking on his makeshift warhammer, she pulled Rahm closer and with one mighty swing, she struck him across the face. The ram faunus flew and impacted on the wall nearby, the stone cracking in a web of fractures.

“Thanks,” Cinder remarked, giving the faunus girl an impressed look.

Rayhana blushed and gave her a wide, pearly smile.

“No prob–” Without warning, a burst of sauce splattered her in the face. “Eugh! Gross!”

The gentle giantess pawed off a mixture of red condiments off her face while Nix flourished his tablecloth nearby, a series of sauces covering it like the dust sown into his cloak. He stood on top of a table that had landed feet first, staring them down.

Winter ran up next to Cinder with Amber joining them a second later. She flipped her fork, wielding it underhanded while her partner flourished her baguettes and Amber twirled her pole.

Behind Nix, Thorn and Helia appeared, the former holding up a pair of spoons and the latter picking up a… frozen fish the size of her arm. Where had she gotten that?

“THRN!” Thorn cried furiously. “Take them out!”

The mouse faunus charged forward, jumping off Nix’s table and pouncing at Winter.

WCKR’s leader backpedaled and pulled up her fork arm, parrying the first swing of Thorn’s makeshift right knife. She dodged the swing from her left spoon and ducked under the next attack. Her fourth cut clipped her side and Winter hissed, but forced herself not to panic.

Thorn’s attacks were swift and savage, meant to overwhelm her. Winter, however, was nothing if not composed and calculated. She held herself together while she parried and countered, getting in several swings of her own while they dueled.

“Winter!”

Icy blue eyes darted to her right and she saw Amber tossing something over at her.

Kicking out her leg, she caught Thorn in her midsection. The mouse faunus wheezed and stumbled back, giving Winter enough breathing room to catch the incoming object. It was as long as her saber, had a glinting point at one end, and tapered into a makeshift handle at the other… Wait.

“What?” Winter exclaimed, voice cracking in complete bewilderment as she stared at the frozen swordfish she’d been gifted. “Where did you–”

“Just go with it!” Cinder snapped as she blocked a heavy swing from Helia.

Her eyes flicked from Cinder to the swordfish in her hands, and then to Thorn, who had recovered and was charging at her again.

Pursing her lips into a thin line, Winter sucked in a sharp breath and steadied herself. Slipping left foot back and pushing the right one forward, she struck a battle ready pose and thrust her makeshift saber toward Thorn. The mouse faunus’ eyes blew open wide before they squeezed shut when the swordfish’s piercing nose struck her shoulder. Before she could recover again, Winter swung and slashed her across the chest once, twice, and then stabbed again.

Thorn yelped and stumbled back, nursing her new bruises while her aura flickered.

“Done so soon?” Winter taunted with a smirk.

The mouse faunus snarled at her and brandished her spoons before she charged on all fours. Her tail whipped around at the same time, snatching a butter knife off the ground. 

Briefly, Winter’s eyes widened at her opponent’s change in combat style, but she narrowed them again in determination. Summoning a glyph, she shot herself at Thorn and met her in the middle.

They engaged in fierce combat, Thorn a violent whirlwind of silverware and Winter a practiced front. She parried, blocked, and countered Thorn’s onslaught, landing a series of vicious attacks. Thorn herself managed to do the same, the celerity of her assault overwhelming her at times.

Meanwhile, her teammates were in pitched combat with the rest of Team THRN.

Cinder was battling Helia, the platinum blonde swinging her makeshift broadsword with practiced ease. Her partner was swift and fluid, but Helia seemed to know her moves, blocking and deflecting the ravenette’s fierce attacks.

Amber was contending Nix, the two dust wielders trying their best to supplement their affinity with the elemental substances with whatever was lying around. Nix danced with his tablecloth, flicking sauces and condiments from the fabric. Amber dodged gracefully, cartwheeling and somersaulting over fallen furniture before she swung her pole and batted scattered soda cans at him.

Rayhana, who’d cleaned off her face, was brawling with Rahm. The two were the unstoppable force and the immovable object, Rahm bringing about his makeshift warhammer only for Rayhana to endure the attack and strike at him with her turkey legs. No matter how many times the ram faunus got knocked down, he just kept getting back up and vice versa.

There seemed to be no end to this battle, at least not yet.

Winter parried Thorn’s next attack and kicked her again. This time, however, she summoned a glyph and stepped to her right, shooting off to join Cinder.

“We need to regroup!” she barked, thrusting her swordfish at Helia.

The platinum blonde backed off and scowled at them.

“No argument here,” Cinder grunted, flourishing her baguettes and popping her neck. “Amber! Rayhana!”

Nearby, the brunette stole a glance at them before she jumped over Nix’s next attack. She then stabbed her pole into a soda can, the carbonated drink fizzing out around the shaft, and threw it at her opponent. It exploded into a sugary mist, obscuring his vision and letting her escape.

Rayhana was in the middle of a wrestling match when she heard Cinder call out. She turned to look at them, letting her spy Winter and Cinder fly over with the help of a glyph. The former slashed the ram faunus across the back and the latter swept out his legs with her baguettes. Seeing that her opponent’s footing was gone, the elephant faunus picked up her opponent and threw him back at his team.

Reunited, Team WCKR stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Winter raised her swordfish and smiled past it. Cinder flourished her baguettes and flashed a smug smirk. Amber twirled her pole before leveling one end at their opponents. And Rayhana bit a chunk out of one turkey leg.

They all glanced at the elephant faunus and she blushed.

“What? I’m hungry,” she explained, mouth full of food.

Across from them, Team THRN got back on their feet and collectively scowled at them.

“This isn’t over yet!” Thorn snapped, raising her spoons with her hands and tail.

Winter sniffed. “Good, because we’re just getting warmed up.”

Team WCKR charged forward. Team THRN surged toward them. They met in the middle and the battle continued on.

Glynda had hoped that the first food fight of the school year would be much later into the semester. She prayed for that every year, but tragically, that wish of hers never came true. The cafeteria always turned into one messy warzone close to the beginning of the first quarter of the year and Ozpin always had her come down to deal with it.

Storming up the path leading to the aforementioned building, she watched throngs of students flee the battlefield. They trickled out of the cafeteria doors, running past her in a panic. Almost all of them had their uniforms ruined by stains and splotches of various foods or drinks.

Thankfully, no one got in her way. One look at her livid face was enough to ward them off. Very few had ever stumbled into her while she was on the warpath.

When she finally arrived at the building, she found a crowd of students along its sides. Many were recording the fight with their scrolls, looking through what parts of the windows weren’t covered in splatters of food. Some were tending to those who had fallen during the fighting, cleaning off today’s menu from their friends and classmates. And then there was campus security, the uniformed adults flanking the front doors to make sure no one entered and got themselves covered from head to toe with the lunch menu.

Breathing in, Glynda clenched her jaw and leveled a hateful look at the door.

“Glad ya could make it, ma’am!”

Looking over, she found the chief of security marching over to her, what salsa and fragments of chips running down the front of his chestplate.

“I’m sorry that I’m late,” she drawled, crossing her arms.

Kup nodded and then lifted his cap to scratch his head. Then he turned to regard the front doors with an annoyed look.

“It’s a goddamn warzone in there again.” Kup huffed and then waved his hand at his men, the security guards backing away from the entrance. “You ready?”

She sighed and wiped a hand over her face. “Yes. Now, everyone, please stand back.”

Students and guards alike moved away from her, some with fearful eyes and others with gleeful ones. They all watched as she called the Disciplinarian into her hand and extended it, then stormed forward.

Glynda exhaled and rubbed her temples briefly before swinging her riding crop, commanding the cafeteria doors to slam open. Marching inside, she batted away a pie flying for her face and knocked away a trio of students, depositing them on a bench.

The cafeteria was in utter chaos, plates flying and shattering against walls, tables kicked over and pushed together into bunkers, and children flying everywhere. Some of the banner posts on the walls had been broken off, turned into makeshift weapons and there was a decorative pillar that had been shattered. No holes in the roof yet, that was good.

Bearing a scowl, Glynda raised her arms and extended her will outward. Her semblance reached out and picked up half of the room, levitating tables, chairs, benches, clutter, and students all at once. She commanded everything to return to its proper order. Anything broken she willed to be repaired, fusing together cracked and fractured pieces into a whole again.

“Cinder, incoming!”

Emerald eyes blinked upon hearing her daughter’s name and Glynda spotted in the far distance, past flying debris, Cinder running across a row of tables.

Her adopted daughter fell into a roll under a dozen plates of food being thrown her way. As she traveled, she swung a pair of baguettes as if they were the scimitar components of Midnight. She struck down two students in her path and then pounced on Helia Solus.

“Take them head on!” the voice of Winter Schnee echoed over the roaring of students and splattering of food.

Searching the room, Glynda spotted Winter Schnee standing atop a table nearby. In one hand, she wielded a frozen swordfish the size of her arm and in her other hand, she gripped a fork. Under her heel lay Thorn Briars, the mouse faunus sprawled over the table with ketchup dripping from her chest.

“Amber, condiments!” Winter instructed as she deflected a plate coming at her with her fish. “Rayhana, give us cover! Cinder, on my mark!”

Cinder’s brunette friend grabbed a pair of ketchup and mustard bottles off a table. At the same time, Rayhana Osmin hoisted a table over her head and used it as a shield to block an attack from Rahm Bighorn. She braced against the table, stalling his attack long enough for Amber to rush over, slide under the ram faunus, and squeeze her stolen bottles in his face.

He sputtered and backpedaled, prompting Nix Nocturne to run out of cover to aid his partner.

“Mark!”

Cinder stole a glance at her team lead, blocked a strike from Helia, twirled, and then kicked the blonde off the table they dueled on. The other first year girl shrieked as she flew a few feet and crashed into her teammate. They lay splayed out on the floor, clothes soiled and heads lolling.

Glynda stood stunned as she watched the carnage unfold, then unbridled fury erupted in her like an inferno.

“Cinder Goodwitch!” Glynda roared, making the grinning, raven-haired teen freeze up and drop her baguettes.

Her voice echoed off the walls and the entire room stilled. Every student in the room looked over and spotted the deputy headmistress storming through the battlefield, clearing out the carnage around her. Tables flung through the air and slammed back into neat rows, plates and clutter flew up in steady streams before being deposited in the trash bins in the room, and anything in general that was misplaced was returned to its proper place.

Meanwhile, Glynda pushed the students aside, all of them quickly backing away from her as she marched up to Cinder. Meanwhile, her adopted daughter stood as tall and stiff as a tree, her hands behind her back and her baguettes discarded at her feet. She stared up at her with a pale face and big amber eyes full of dread. Good.

Of all the things Cinder could do during her second week at school!

Glynda barely withheld herself from spitting a tide of wrathful words at her daughter as she made her final approach to the girl. However, before she could open her mouth and chew her out in front of the academy, a blur of white landed between the mother and her daughter.

“My apologies, Professor Goodwitch. This, uh…‘food fight’ was my fault,” Winter Schnee declared, standing straight and stiff with an aloof countenance. “I allowed my emotions to get the better of me and incited the incident.”

Behind Miss Schnee, Team WCKR stared at their leader bug-eyed. Slowly, Amber and Miss Osmin made their way over to stand with Cinder, the trio inching up right after to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the heiress.

“N-No, it’s my fault.” Cinder pushed past Winter and visibly swallowed the lump in her throat. “THRN was messing with our team. I… got angry.”

The words were too familiar to Glynda and she inhaled a deep breath. Glowering down at them, the deputy headmistress wrung the head of the Disciplinarian. A moment later, she flicked her riding crop out and swept away the debris at the back of the cafeteria.

When the last table had finally settled on the ground, Glynda closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. Reaching up, she pushed up her glasses and then opened her eyes to narrow them at Team WCKR.

“My office. Now.” Glynda grated out, her eyes flicking from Miss Schnee to Cinder.

They gave their excuse to Glynda in her office, explaining how everything began and eventually snowballed into the food fight. Amber and Rayhana talked about THRN trying to play friendly with them, only to make snide remarks. Winter talked about her intervention, attempting to break it up but also standing up for her teammates. And Cinder explained that she was just looking out for her comrades when she threw the pie. Action was better than words after all.

Glynda had been… less than enthusiastic about her approach, but thankfully, she didn’t immediately expel them from the academy. Instead, she reprimanded them for a half-hour—probably venting her outrage at seeing Cinder causing a fight at Beacon—and then she let them go with a four-day suspension starting next week. They had to attend detention, help clean the dining hall for the next week, and play nice with THRN from now on.

Once they were out of Beacon Tower, their first stop was the dorm bathrooms to clean all the slop off themselves, and then they headed home to their dorms. The entire time, they chatted animatedly about the food fight and even in the showers, they continued the conversation..

“That was amazing!” Rayhana’s voice echoed off the walls.

Cinder laughed in her stall, scrubbing the cheese and marinara sauce out of her hair. Somewhere outside, she heard Amber laughing in approval as well.

“It was certainly thrilling!” Winter called out from somewhere else.

Moments later, Cinder was brushing her teeth, dressed up in her t-shirt and boy shorts. A few sinks over, Amber was washing her face and Rayhana was sitting on the counter, kicking her legs. Meanwhile, Winter was combing her snow white hair out with a smile on her face.

“When you knocked Rahm out of the park with those turkey legs!” Amber sputtered out, water dripping from her face, before she dabbed it away with a towel.

The elephant faunus grinned and mimed batting an invisible opponent away. 

“He should’ve known better than to mess with my friends!” she declared heroically shortly before giggles bubbled out of her mouth, her jubilance pouring off her lips in a fit.

Cinder couldn’t help but snicker with her, recalling the fight. When THRN’s muscle tried to break through their formation, Winter had ordered her to engage and she immediately batted him through a pillar, shattering it. 

“Oh! Oh! What about Cinder and the baguettes?” Rayhana pointed out, grinning at her with a pearly smile.

The raven-haired girl bore a grin as she struck a pose, holding invisible baguettes. She could still hear the crusts cracking in her hands as she swept two opponents off their feet, then knocked Nix down when he tried to get the jump on her.

The girls laughed and Cinder stood up, then pointed at Amber. “Don't forget Amber and the soda.”

Amidst the chaos, Winter had ordered Amber to clear some space for them while she dueled Thorn. Someone had slammed into a vending machine nearby and Amber had taken the cans that spilled out, throwing them like grenades. Carbonated explosions had given their leader enough room to finish Thorn and start calling out instructions over the fighting.

“God,” Cinder breathed, dousing her toothbrush with water, “I'm definitely going to get yelled at later.”

She could already feel Glynda’s eyes boring a hole in her forehead. That was going to be an interesting conversation whenever they had time alone.

Tugging at her shirt, Cinder looked over and watched Winter comb fingers through her hair, her usual bun now draped over her back in a snow white curtain. It juxtaposed her simple, lavender night gown, the bottom of which ended around her calves.

Cinder watched her for a moment, eyes lingering on the soft smile she wore. A moment later, she looked away, her cheeks warm, and she turned her attention over to Amber and Rayhana. The former was wearing an oversized t-shirt that ended at her thighs and the latter was dressed up in a night robe, protecting her modesty until they got back to the dorm.

“I cannot believe the first fight we won since initiation was a food fight,” Amber cackled, flicking her eyes over at Winter. “‘Cinder, baguettes!’ ‘Rayhana, turkey legs!’ ‘Amber, condiments!’”

They all grew smirks, remembering every instruction and the actions that followed. 

“Now we know why Professor Ozpin made you leader, huh?” Rayhana commented, knocking Winter’s elbow with her’s.

The room fell silent immediately, echoes from the locker room finding their way into the bathroom. They resonated through the tension in the air, whispering faintly in their ears. Cinder couldn’t quite remember the heated words she’d spat, but she felt the connotations behind them still burning in her head and in her heart. One glance at Winter told her that the ice queen felt the same way about her own words.

Fiery amber eyes, icy blue ones, earthen brown orbs, and jade green ones glanced at each other, then quickly darted away. No one spoke a word, too afraid to bring up the past. Their moment of camaraderie was too new and too fragile, and none of them wanted to break it… but this was an issue they’d have to settle sooner or later.

Eventually, Winter chose to break their silence.

The white-haired girl stood there for a moment, shifted her feet idly, and then inhaled sharply. She then looked up at them with one of her aloof masks, but it hung loosely to her face, revealing the guilt underneath it.

“Everyone,” she addressed, licking her dry lips. “I wanted to apologize for my poor behavior today. I spoke some– many heated words after class… I’ve been so concerned about your shortcomings that I never recognized your strengths. My orders and instructions were based on my misconceptions of you, and when that ultimately led to our defeat, I blamed you for my own faults… So, I’m sorry.”

Cinder crossed her arms and watched icy blue eyes glisten a bit, wetness growing in them as she confronted her wrongdoings. They all watched her try to hold her composure, measuring the depth of her guilt. Then, Rayhana grabbed Winter and picked her up in a bear hug.

“Apology accepted!” Rayhana wailed, fully bawling out of joy, or something like that.

“Just like that?” Winter wheezed quizzically.

“If you mean it.” The elephant faunus flashed her a wide, pearly smile. “Then, yes!”

A snicker escaped Cinder as she watched the elephant faunus crush Winter, squeezing the life out of the heiress as she kicked her legs.

“Tight! Too tight!” Winter slapped the gray arms holding her. “Unhand me!”

The bathroom was full of the sounds of jubilant crying, dying wheezes, and humored laughter for the next couple of minutes. Then, it was Rayhana’s sniffling followed by Winter’s coughing.

“Hey, as long as you know what you did,” Amber remarked, nodding her head in approval at Winter. “We’re a team now. We watch out for each other.”

Earthen brown eyes flicked over to fiery amber ones and Cinder shrugged but nodded.

She opened her mouth to shoot a barb, to give her a harsh reminder that she wasn’t a Schnee here, she was just another student. Then, she remembered how terrible today had been and how another argument would just make things worse. So, Cinder just nodded along.

“Yeah,” Cinder agreed, watching Winter’s face soften, and then a painful tug in her gut prompted her to apologize too. “And I… also want to say I’m sorry… for yelling at you, I mean.”

Icy blue eyes studied her face, then they studied the floor. Winter breathed in, then out, and then she grew a tiny smile.

“There’s no need for that… partner.” Winter swallowed, glanced at all of them, and then smiled a bit wider. “Thank you, everyone.”

Rayhana sniffled and grabbed Winter in another hug, causing the Schnee heiress to shriek and then wheeze.

“Rayhana!”

Cinder burst into laughter alongside Amber, feeling her sides burn. Then, suddenly, she felt them get snatched off the ground and crushed by thick gray arms. Her face was smooshed up against Winter’s, both of them eyeing WCKR’s muscle pleadingly.

“No! Stop!” Cinder rasped. “Rayhana!”

Amber didn’t even get a word out. She just gave a strangled noise. At the same time, Rayhana sobbed, sniffled, and then apologized when she dropped them onto the floor.

A minute or so passed before they finally left the bathroom. Amber grabbed her things and tucked them under one arm. Rayhana tightened her bathrobe and got ready to go. And Winter meddled with her hair, spreading it out so it swayed behind her.

Together, they traveled back to their dorm, chatting the whole way there. Upon arrival they sat around for a bit, finally relaxing after a day’s worth of banter, bickering, and battles. Cinder busied herself with texting Trivia back, relaying the day’s events to her. Winter opened her scroll to check on her homework. Amber opened up one of her Alan Lake novels to read. And Rayhana dressed up in her proper sleepwear.

<Trivia Vanille> AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH! I WISH I’D BEEN THERE!!!! T_T

<Cinder Goodwitch> You should have seen us. We were incredible.

<Trivia Vanille> You seriously used baguettes to fight?

<Cinder Goodwitch> I can use my aura to protect myself and reinforce Midnight.

<Cinder Goodwitch> So yes, I did.

<Trivia Vanille> JEALOUS

<Trivia Vanille> I need to bug my mom more!

<Cinder Goodwitch> Did they fall for the last trick?

<Trivia Vanille> Hard to tell.

<Trivia Vanille> I started watching tutorials online, so I think I’m convincing her I’ve got talent.

<Cinder Goodwitch> Considering how we beat up those gangsters a while back, I think you do.

<Trivia Vanille> :D

Cinder smiled at the message and sniffed, imagining the shorter girl flailing excitedly on her bed. She’d scarcely seen the other girl over the years, really only through brief video calls and selfies. Hopefully, one day soon, they’d meet up face-to-face again.

“Hey, since we’re basically under house arrest for the next couple of days, you know what we should do?”

Cinder looked up from her scroll and found Amber standing on her bed. Winter had glanced up from her homework too and Rayhana had turned around from facing their closet. The trio watched the K in WCKR hop off her bed, grab one of the duffel bags she hadn’t emptied yet, and pull out the rest of her Alan Lake novels.

“We should decorate!” Amber proposed with a grin.

Everyone exchanged skeptical looks, not entirely sold on the activity yet. They’d just gotten out of being chewed out by Glynda and weren’t exactly in the mood for doing much else than lazing about. However, it was around the time that classes would have ended for the day, which left them a whole lot of time to do nothing….

Fiery amber eyes glanced at icy blue ones, the partners exchanging a brief and quiet conversation. After a few seconds of inquisitive looks, they both scanned their dorm room.

The walls were still bare of anything but a few shelves being used to store small stacks of textbooks. The floor was bare except for the one carpet the room had come with. They had a desk that was topped by a lamp, more textbooks, some unfinished homework, and random belongings. And then there was a short bookshelf none of them had even used yet.

There was a stark lack of homeliness to the room, but to be fair, they spent very little time in it. They woke up early for classes and then immediately fell asleep when they got back. They’d wake up again for dinner and come back to do homework for a little bit before tucking into bed to repeat the cycle. Maybe Amber had a point.

“I suppose we might as well,” Winter finally agreed, slipping off her bed, standing up straight, and craning her head from left to right. “Where should we begin?”

Amber’s grin widened while Rayhana grabbed two bags from under her bed. Cinder got up and eyed the naked wall next to her bed.

“I know what I’m putting up,” the ravenette declared, grabbing a suitcase she’d left at her bedside.

She produced a rolled-up poster and unfurled it against the wall closest to her bed, revealing the stylized artwork of a Mistralian woman in blue wrapping her fingers around a mic, blue roses blossoming around her. Scratchy, blown-out text at the bottom of the poster read: ‘Global Aizome-ination!”

“Seriously?” Amber teased with a smile. “Aizome?”

“She's the best singer in the world!” she sniffed before she returned the tease. “At least I’m not a nerd.”

The brunette stuck out her tongue and Cinder snickered. Her partner rolled her eyes and sighed while she pulled out her personal belongings, laying a few framed pictures on her bed next to a collection of books and the beauty care products she’d been guarding with her life. All the way across the room, Rayhana giggled at their bickering while she got out a toolbox, a box of snacks, a stack of comics, and a set of movies.

They spent the better part of the next two hours decorating their dorm, filling shelves, adorning the walls, and cleaning up the chaos that had been accumulating since they moved in. 

Cinder put up a few Aizome posters on her side of the dorm and topped the shelves closest to her with the artist’s albums and vinyls. Next to her collection, she placed a couple of pictures of her and Glynda, some fashion magazines she’d purchased a while back, and the trophy she’d won from the last regional tournament—something she caught Winter eyeing, much to the current champion's delight.

Winter herself filled up her half of the shelves with a plethora of things that just screamed her. Several books, novels, and what looked like old journals were lined up next to Cinder’s copy of the Rubrum Primer that she’d gotten forever ago. She had a basket of skincare products that only the Schnee heiress could afford regularly set up on the lowest shelf. And she had two pictures of herself, one of her wielding her saber and the second of her and a little girl who Cinder assumed to be her sister. 

Across the room, Cinder spied Amber and Rayhana stocking their shelves with all manner of entertainment. Amber’s novels almost took up a whole shelf, the end of which was finished off by some textbooks on dust. She had some movies and games on the shelf above it, which mixed with the ones Rayhana had brought. The uppermost shelves were used mostly by Rayhana, given that she was tall enough to grab anything off there with ease.

For the remainder of their belongings, they stuffed them into the short bookshelf under their window. Everyone else’s textbooks got stuffed in there with other adjacent reading material. They added the rest of their collective movie collection and a few games. Some of Winter’s baskets of expensive skin care products were set on top of the shelf, and the rest of them decided to stack theirs with them too. 

By the time they finished, the sun was dipping past the horizon outside, strokes of orange and salmon painting the sky. They could hear some hustle and bustle outside their dorm as other students filtered into the building, coming back from after-school activities or just dinner in general. For only a few hours, they’d gotten a lot of work done and now the dorm felt more… homely. Comfy.

Cinder glanced from her posters to Winter’s pictures, to Amber’s novels, and to Rayhana’s toolbox next to their desk.

“Well, I call that a hard day’s work,” Rayhana declared, smacking the dust off her hands before placing them on her hips. “So, anyone hungry?”

Winter’s stomach rumbled and the pale girl blushed but continued to wear her aloof face. That didn’t stop both Cinder and Amber from snickering.

“There’s your answer,” Amber giggled before she scratched her head. “One question, though, are we banned from the dining hall?”

Rayhana pressed a finger to her bottom lip and hummed. Cinder looked at Winter, who creased her brow and pondered on it.

“I suppose we should ask,” their leader reasoned. “For now, I suppose we–”

“Should just go and get our food,” Cinder interjected bluntly before she suggested sending an email or paying Beacon Tower a visit. “I’m hungry. What are they serving tonight?”

She shot Winter a smug look. Her partner rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue. And Amber glanced between them nervously before she breathed a sigh, probably glad they didn’t burst into another squabble.

“I think it’s pizza tonight,” the brunette answered after checking her student app.

“Ooh!” Rayhana sounded, eyes widening and shining with excitement. “Come on, go get changed!”

She ran to her closet and Amber followed after, but held it open. Cinder shrugged and walked over to hers, switching out of her sleepwear and into her casual. Winter waited for her turn and Cinder leaned against the door idly with the others until their leader stepped over, dressed in her SDC-emblazoned blazer and pleated skirt.

“Alright! Dinner time!” Amber cheered, walking outside.

Rayhana grinned and crouched through the threshold behind her. Cinder tried to squeeze past her, but she felt a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. She glanced over her shoulder and found Winter wearing an unreadable expression.

“Go on ahead,” the Schnee heiress insisted, looking Amber in the eye before turning her gaze to Cinder. “I’d like to speak with Cinder alone.”

Earthen brown eyes narrowed and glanced at Cinder, who shrugged. She could handle herself.

A long moment passed, then Amber closed the door, leaving the partners alone. They watched each other for a few seconds, studying each other. Cinder gave the ice queen a once-over, trying to see if she had some ulterior motive or malice she’d kept hidden.

Eventually, she conceded to the notion that this was a genuine conversation.

“What did you want to talk about?” Cinder asked, folding her arms over her chest.

Winter crossed her arms too, but did so in a defensive manner. Her shoulders tensed and her back slouched. She shrank just a bit, something like fear making her appear smaller.

“I just… wanted to ask you something,” her partner confessed, her eyes roaming the bare floor.

A moment passed, then Cinder waved a hand.

“Ask away,” she insisted flippantly.

There was a heavy sigh and then Winter looked up at her, icy blue orbs meeting fiery amber ones.

“About what we agreed on in the Emerald Forest….”

Cinder paused and knit her brow in confusion. She racked her brain, trying to recall what she was talking about. A moment later, she remembered when they traded barbs during the initiation and the moment hours later when they had agreed to part ways. Their pact of separation they had yet to fulfill.

“The partner thing?” Cinder questioned in surprise.

“Yes, ‘the partner thing,’” Winter confirmed before she inhaled sharply. “I wanted to say that… we don’t get along as well as partners should.”

The statement was blunt and jagged, unrefined and straight to the point. It hung in the air, thickening the atmosphere with tension. Regardless of her lack of care for the Schnee heiress, the declaration still jabbed at Cinder’s pride and she narrowed her eyes in offense.

“No, we don’t,” she replied slowly. Bitterly.

“But, I wanted to thank you.”

Fiery amber eyes blinked. “What?”

Winter tore her eyes away from them and shifted her feet. She parted her lips to speak but stopped, whatever words she was about to speak getting stuck in her throat. Swallowing, the ice queen rethought her next statement before she finally spoke it.

“You’re an egotist. You reproach me on every decision I make, ignore nearly every order I give, and throw tantrums when you don’t get what you want,” Winter claimed pointedly, wearing her aloof mask again.

Cinder’s jaw slackened, shock overcoming her at being called out so brazenly. Fire erupted in the pit of her stomach and she gnashed her teeth. Anger welled within her like magma and her blood boiled, but before she could snap back, Winter bowed her head with an acquiescing sigh.

“But you also tell me what I need to know, regardless of whether it hurts my feelings or not,” her partner claimed further, her voice a touch quieter. Softer. “You give me the facts straight and recognize when I need to be corrected… So, thank you for being the best possible partner I could have gotten.”

Icy blue eyes looked up at fiery amber ones again, but this time they were full of gratitude. Her aloof mask that she wore was gone. Discarded. Winter’s shoulders loosened and her stance laxed, any of the usual defensiveness she wore disappearing. For the first time, she seemed to speak and stand with full open-heartedness.

Cinder stared at her for a moment, stunned by her vulnerability. She felt her cheeks warm, and then she quickly looked away.

“Yeah, sure… Whatever.” Cinder cleared her throat and shrugged, feigning apathy. “Thanks for the compliment, but I’m getting hungry.”

She strode past her swiftly so that her partner wouldn’t see her flustered expression. She heard the Schnee heiress exhale, humor in her tone.

They left the dorms quietly with a lightness to their step.

Unfortunately, her greatest strength may also be her greatest weakness. Her ability to think faster is matched by her ability to wander off. As I understand, she has a tendency to think too much and end up with her head in the clouds rather than in the classroom. Originally, I believed this to be an incredible flaw, but I have since learned that it is a boon in a different form. She may wander off at times, but she may use those moments to think outside the box. In a recent incident, she realized we could improvise weapons from food items and build a fortress out of mere furniture.

…

Unfortunately, all of these strengths are outweighed by her irrational fear of grimm. Despite her prodigious and defined stature, she loses her nerve in the face of humanity’s enemy. It is a grave weakness, but not one that cannot be overcome. Admittedly, I thought my team was compromised because of her. I now realize that Rayhana’s true strength does not lie in her strength in arms, but in her loyalty. She is not a brute but a guardian. A protector. She cannot fight grimm head-on, but she will stand her ground if others come into danger by them. 

…

Cinder is a fierce and adept fighter who relies on speed and ferocity to cut her opponents down to size. She is nigh unmatched in close-quarters combat and her skill with a bow is praiseworthy. In addition to her lethality, she has a mind for combat, able to analyze her surroundings and remain nimble on her feet at the same time. She is every bit the prodigy she boasts to be.

Conversely, her pride and ego is her greatest detriment. She questions my every action and challenges my authority. We bicker almost every hour of every day and can never seem to come to a satisfactory conclusion. While the other members of my team acquiesce to my command, Cinder actively works to undermine me. It feels at times as if she has a personal grievance against me, and if so I already have my speculations on why.

All of that being said, Cinder is also an invaluable member of my team because of her arrogance. She perceives me from an angle no one else does. She speaks her mind and at times, I require her blunt counsel. If I lose myself in my own head or find myself making excuses, she will correct me and, despite my resentment, I must concede to her point. She is a double-edged sword and one I do not wish to discard.