23

Juniper facepalmed as his Jaune more or less mirrored his original reaction to Weiss.

To Winter Schnee! WINTER! SCHNEE!

Jaune immediately flushed crimson, his rabbit ears flattening against his head as he hid behind Qrow. His furiously wagging tail betrayed his feelings.

Juniper had just been basking in Pyrrha's presence, his eyes closed in his facsimile of sleep as the two living males had been just casually chatting outside, enjoying the cool air of Atlas as they waited for Clarent to show up.

After all, the headstrong Arc sister had gone roaming like a stray cat and would be returning whenever she damn well pleased.

At least that's how Jaune explained it to Qrow, much to the man's amusement.

The older man was currently erupting in laughter as he held his ribs, not unlike Clarent Arc, who pointed a finger at her brother with tears leaking from her eyes, bent forwards in a L shape with her knee length coat zipped up all the way.

"Th-there's no need to be so uncouth to young Dr. Jaune." Winter pinkened at the situation, more embarrassed than anything. "I thank you, Little Professor. I am flattered."

She gave a polite and proper one-handed curtsy with the hem of her Academy Uniform coat.

She felt more like a less angry Weiss than the stern woman Juniper remembered. Still, he supposed this was a younger Winter.

The muted slumbering Pyrrha within him also sent a bemused echo as Jaune sputtered out a "No problem".

Juniper buried his face into his right hand as he cringed at his younger self.

He'd retained the visual appearance of his Saber iteration, and with the occasional injection of prana from a Command Seal, even though they had been unable to recreate the Summoning Ritual, they were able to at least transfer about a quarter of that mana into his Saint Graph about once every other week.

It also bled out a bit over time as it fed Pyrrha's slumbering essence, but it allowed the two a small, warm share of comfort and happiness.

They were hoping that it would allow Jaune to one day summon a supercharged Saber Juniper. If it could do that, it would be pretty amazing.

"Oh man!" Qrow wiped a tear from his eyes. "Man, my luck is really the actual best now. Ahhhh. Hey Jaune."

He grinned jokingly.

"How much are you willing to pay for me to not tell the girls about you meeting a Snow Angel?"

Jaune just wordlessly rapidly punched the side of Qrow's waist with one hand, getting some laughing yelps of pain as his grayish tinged red Aura flashed from the impacts of his little fists.

"I'll shut up for extra breakfast tomorrow!" Clarent snickered with a catty grin, slinging an arm around her new friend who seemed a bit uncomfortable at the act of physical comraderie, "Arc's honor!"

"Done!" Jaune blurted, before taking a few deep breaths.

Box breathing began, calming the boy down quickly.

"This is utter chaos." Juniper heard Winter's incredulous voice.

"Welcome to the extended Jaune-family." Qrow laughed. "I'm his sorta Uncle Qrow. Huntsman."

He held out a friendly hand, getting a hesitant shake from young Winter Schnee.

"Winter." She replied with a firm shake. "First Year of Atlas Academy's Upper Program."

"What does that mean?" Clarent asked.

"I think the Upper Program in Atlas is like, the equivalent of Haven or Beacon. Lower Program is more like Sanctum or Signal, though those two prep schools start earlier than most." Qrow whistled helpfully, "Little prodigy then, eh? You can't be older than what, fourteen, fifteen? "

"Yooooo." Clarent grinned, "So I almost tied with someone that finished their first year at a Huntsman Finishing School? Lets gooooo!"

"I-I turned fifteen last week. Merely skipped a few classes from redundant private education. And Atlas Academy has shorter summer and winter breaks. I took my finals already but technically my school year isn't quite over."

"Hey you're only two years older than me."

Winter's stormy gray eyes widened.

"You're thirteen?"

"That a problem?"

"I- you're almost taller than me!" Winter actually sounded sort of angry.

Qrow snickered.

"Alright, alright. Thanks for showing the kid's sis back to the swanky dorms here. The recovery beds aren't huge, but way better than any hotel bed we could have gotten." He pointed his thumb back over his shoulder.

"Yes, that's because they're meant to be rewards for teams that succeed in the top percentiles for midterms, finals, and Field Exams. They were also the beds that every student first experiences in their first month of the Upper Program to act as incentive for the future."

Winter's eyes suddenly opened wide.

"That reminds me! I left the reports for Professor Stormwind in the training room! I-I will catch up with you later, Clarent. Get that you know what for me!"

Winter quickly saluted, a subconscious result of her training, as she quickly excused herself and power-walked back the way she came.

"Yeah no problem, Winter!" Clarent leaned back, looking over her shoulder with a shit-eating grin. "I'll make sure he makes it out to Snow Angel!"

"CLARENT ARC, DON'T YOU DARE!"

Jaune Arc swore he'd bury Qrow Branwen.

He'd only gotten the man to shut up by shoving one of the reward three-tiered bentos meant for Emerald into his hands (he made extras in case for the days he might not be able to cook), the older man's large Huntsman's appetite immediately becoming piqued by the tantalizing scent within.

Ha.

Earth at a point had BILLIONS of people and even getting a single Michelin star made them the best of the best of the chefs of that world. A world whose food culture developed without Grimm getting in the way.

And Jaune's skill was magically augmented by SR Rarity Ability: 2 Star Michelin Chef. If he wasn't one of the best, if not the best, chef on Remnant, Jaune would eat his Augmented Drachen Mail (Female)'s dragonscale bodysuit.

Mwah ha ha ha.

He'll be comparing every meal to Jaune's until the day he died!

That would show him for trying to embarrass him in front of the prettiest girl he'd ever seen!

"C'mon and get over it, lil' bro. It's just writing your name down. Don't stress it." Clarent was resting her chin on the top of his head, his ears resting against her cheeks as she was forcing him to sit on her lap.

Her lashes tickled his ears, making them flick about, tapping against her grinning cheeks.

They were in their room, a dorm for normally a four student squadron, but instead of beds, large metal pods were present, a luxury Atlasean recovery pod that could soothe, massage, and facilitate Aura recovery. Nora and Ren would be using the other two pods, but they were currently exploring the Academy together.

Very expensive and flashy tech. And as long as Jaune didn't open it up to see the internals he could stay impressed without the urge to point out any flaws.

"I've still never signed something outside of documents." Jaune grumbled.

"Just treat it as the same thing." The voice of Big Brother Juniper advised as he floated about casual and cool. "Just bigger. You want it to be more visible. Make sure you address her directly in it too. Nothing fancy, just making it out to Winter is enough."

He said it like it was so easy!

Jaune grumbled as he tried for the third time to leave a satisfying signature over a CD case of an album he hadn't even known existed a year ago.

"See? That looks fine!" Clarent snatched the CD case from his hands. "I'll give it to Winter next I see her."

Jaune sighed as he pulled out a bubble wrap lined hard cardboard document envelope.

"At least put it in something protective."

"Kay!~"

Clarent secured the protected album with a bundled bit of paracord she pulled from its place on her belt, tying the bound envelope to her side.

"How will you even find her later?"

"I assume she'll show up at some point."

"You didn't even exchange Scroll numbers?"

"Didn't think to." Clarent bluntly admitted. "Why, you want her number?"

"Th-that's not why!" Jaune protested with a faint flush. "It'd just feel really dumb if we never actually ended up getting it to her!"

"Worst case we ask General Ironwood or the Specialists that hound ya to deliver it. Big whoop. Rather this is the first time you've shown interest in girls like that, so your big sis gotta tease you about it."

Jaune groaned in embarrassment.

"It came out of my mouth before I even realized. I know loads of pretty girls though! This isn't a big deal!"

"Oooooh~" Clarent began to tickle him. "What other pretty girls? Give big sis all the juicy details!"

"Stooooooop!" Jaune whined as he laughed. "It's nothing like that! I was just surprised!"

"Surprised to see an angel?"

"Just kill me, it's faster. A mercy. I beg for mercy."

Clarent cackled as she rubbed her cheek against his.

"Urrrrrgh." Jaune groaned, though there was a smile on his lips. "Why're we even at the Academy by the way? It's cool and the luxury rest pod-bed things are pretty neat, even from my perspective, but the last two times I was in Atlas it was at a hotel."

Clarent shrugged.

"Beats me lil' bro. This is my first time coming with. I remember ma and pa saying we were supposed to be at a place called the Glass Unicorn? But then we landed and Specialist Noire whispered to the adults something about a murder when she thought none of us were listening in."

Clarent leaned in, keeping her voice down so none of their family would overhear, in case someone was walking by the door, or in case the walls were thinner than expected.

"Robin's the one that heard it directly so you'll have to ask her. Something about a crazy Huntsman that killed the owners and then himself or something. Robin thinks it was some sort of tragic love story and you know how crazy she gets about tragedy and dark romances."

Jaune shivered.

"Nevermind. That sounds awful."

He meant what had happened to the innocent victims, not his sister's preference in stories. She was free to enjoy whatever she wanted. She knew the difference between fantasy and reality.

"Yeah. Sounds messed up." Clarent agreed.

Cinder tugged at her silk choker.

She hated wearing it, but she needed it to hide the scarring. But it was a reminder to what she'd escaped only a few days ago.

She cursed as she stared at the dark roots of her bleached blonde hair in the mirror.

She'd followed the written instructions, but it had started feeling a tingling and itching that started to burn. She'd already been burned by her damn shock collar, she didn't want more scars. More signs of weakness.

Her hands shook, and she clenched the edge of the porcelain sink of her cheap motel room.

Cheap for Atlas at least. It cost her too much Lien. She needed to get down into Mantle then… somewhere. Anywhere but here. But the military had suddenly gotten more active.

The Little Professor was in Atlas.

Those monsters made fun of him for being a Faunus, but were so excited for the prestige of him visiting their hotel.

They'd lobbied for it and appealed to the officers in charge of arranging his stay with bribes and promises and somehow they'd landed the opportunity, even though they should never have been given the chance.

They'd gone as far as to get rid of their policies of no Faunus officially a year ago in preparation for that moment, even though they maintained such in secret as much as possible.

Misdating accommodation dates, false declining cards, a slew of underhanded tactics to leave potential guests in the cold. Just because of some slight differences in appearance.

Two faced bitches. Hateful monsters. The whole time they'd make jokes that she was even less than the Faunus, just because she couldn't fight back against that damn collar. She'd suffered more in the past year than in the previous five!

She waited for her hands to stop trembling as her breath shook.

Cinder turned on the sink, gathering her hands to cup a handful of water to splash in her face to wake herself up, keep herself focused-

And saw the image of Rhodes flash behind her on the water's surface.

The mark of her hand still smoldered on his neck.

Cinder felt her stomach flip, lunging over to the toilet, hurling her cheap convenience store lunch into the dirty stained bowl in wet streaks of bile. Her wet hands slipped against the edge of the bowl, threatening to fall in.

"...are you still going to haunt me?" She grit her teeth. "It's been two days."

He didn't reply.

Of course he didn't reply.

He'd never reply again.

The top of her head felt cold. No. Not cold. She wanted to feel his hand-

She silently spun, her arm smacking into the box of brown hair dye, still unopened, on the sink counter sending it flying through the shade of Rhodes, the phantom disappearing.

"I don't need you!" She hissed under her breath, knowing that the walls were thin. That she couldn't be too loud. "I don't! I-I don't!"

The sound of the sink's running water drowned out a single sob.

The scar around her neck itched again, despite the smooth silk.

She took another shaky breath, hands trembling.

Had she not smoothed the edges properly? Why was it so itchy?

She reached down to pick up the hair dye.

She'd doubled back just long enough to steal what she could from the monsters who were her 'family'. Lien and clothes. Half a loaf of bread on a countertop.

The silk fell from her neck from her neck, unknowingly having burnt through it with Scorch as she'd unconsciously scratched at it.

She sighed in frustration as she turned to open up the box of the hair dye, tossing the box into the trash bin by the sink as she leaned over the bathtub to begin to change her hair color.

The smell of cheap dye and chemicals burned her sinuses.

Later she had her newly brown hair, the dark black roots hidden by the darker tone, wrapped in a motel towel. She didn't care that she'd ruined it. If everything went right she'd be out of the city soon anyways.

She walked into the small motel room, walking over to a pile of shredded dresses.

She had enjoyed tearing her 'sisters' dresses apart with glee. It was pointless, but cathartic. She'd used some scraps to make the silk choker that she'd accidentally burnt away.

She should have been a bit more economical with it. A lot of the strips were rough and uneven. It was a mistake, even if it had been so satisfying. Like spitting on their corpses.

It made Cinder want to laugh.

But when she had to dig through it, for a new and usable piece of cloth for her neck it felt just like she was back at the Unicorn having to do their shitty laundry all over again.

Scorch smoldered away handfuls of unusable strips and chunks to make her feel better.

She'd settled for a length of dark green something (it was soft and gentle against her skin and that was enough) that she carefully smoothed the edges for. She softly curled the cloth edges inwards with a little heat, tying it softly around her scar like a small scarf or handkerchief.

It looked a little silly, but the material looked expensive.

A Huntress.

She could pretend she was trying to be a Huntress. They could dress in flashy or silly outfits and not look out of place. As long as they'd fit a theme or color.

She cursed, staring at the scraps of clothing and outfits on the ground.

Could she even recover enough of the pile of scraps to put something decent together? An outfit for a Huntress?

Her thoughts flashed back to Rho-

"No. Nononononono." She muttered with her eyes closed, taking deep breaths to center herself.

In through the nose. Hold. Hold. Hold. Hold.

Out through the mouth. Hold. Hold. Hold. Hold.

She repeated the breathing technique.

Again. Again. Again. Again.

The trembling of her hands settled.

Her eyes opened to the mark of her ha-

Her hand rippled with heat as she dispersed the phantom of Rhodes again with a wild swipe. It was just a figment of her mind. It was a lie! She didn't need to be tied down by this.

It wasn't even the way she had… the way she'd… why was he haunting her?!

She knew why, of course. She knew why. She killed him. His last act had been a moment of regret and kindness and she'd killed him.

Cinder didn't need that. She didn't need that- HIM anymore!

Cinder was going to be free.

She took another shuttering, wet, breath. Wiped the back of her hand against her damp cheek.

Cinder sat down, digging through the pile of cloth again.

This time she burnt nothing.

All the pieces that might still be usable for something were piled to one side. The clearly useless pile was tossed haphazardly into the corner of her motel room. It would have its use later.

She took another deep breath. Less shaky and wet.

Cinder leaned over to drag a duffel bag filled with the rest of her clothes. Well. Hers now.

She didn't want to keep any of her 'sister's' clothes, but she barely had anything but some sleepwear and the Unicorn's uniform that she refused to keep, having already burned it all.

She found the least offensive bits, things that they'd owned but things she hadn't seen them wearing.

Disassociate. Disassociate. Disassociate.

That meant most of them were plain or not super pretty. But the material was still of good quality. They'd hold up to scrutiny. So once she gave them a personal touch, she could look like a Huntress in training that was more strapped for cash. Or tried to make her own outfit.

Anything was better than the victim on the run look.

It would probably make her look earnest and might even put someone's guard down. Maybe even gain a modicum of trust she could take advantage of.

"Heh." Cinder couldn't help but to chuckle. "Ha ha ha."

That was oddly accurate anyways. She was definitely strapped for cash and would be making her own outfit.

Half-truths would be more believable than lies.

An hour passed. Two. Three.

Aura protected her from clumsy needlework from shaky hands.

The carpeted ground was scratched up from her cutting and trimming cloth with a glass knife formed from a piece of the bathroom mirror.

But Cinder stared judgmentally through her brown locks at a light tan linen button up, dark green trimmings sewn into the lining. Half of a black corset that she'd managed to salvage hung just over her shapeless waist, trimmed and fixed up to look intentionally cut down. There just for looks instead of actually trying to shape her waist, though it did that a bit too.

Her body, undernourished and scrawny, didn't exactly have much in the way of curves, so the corset piece would make her look a little more normal if she tightened it just right.

A padded bra roughly her size would give her more curvature, a look that would seem at least a little more fed and grown.

She also had a few more green strips that she could use as handkerchief ties on her arms for a splash more color.

Black slacks that didn't fit one of them right that she slipped into quite comfortably completed the outfit.

She needed a belt though. Her hips fit right, the legs were the right length, but her waist was too thin and reedy.

Ah.

She tied lengths of green cloth into a cloth belt.

She frowned. She didn't like the way it felt. Like it was digging into her flesh rather than supporting up the cloth. Like she was being tied down.

Not great, but it would do. She had to look the part more than anything. She'd just tie it slightly looser next time.

Cinder slipped into the outfit, stepping into the bathroom, turning once around to look at herself.

She felt ridiculous. Looked kind of silly too, but…

She'd seen worse Huntress outfits at this point. Some of those women chose rather outlandish haircuts and outfits. Not that it made them ugly, but it could be out there.

She tied the final remaining green strip of cloth around her right bicep.

Cinder had definitely seen worse.

With the linen shirt tucked in and waist accentuated by the corset piece, her padded bra giving more structure to the top of her loose shirt made it look like she was healthier. She still looked a bit thin, but the black slacks were surprisingly flattering.

That was an odd sensation.

Cinder turned as she observed the shape of her legs and rear.

That part of her looked a bit less scrawny. Probably because she'd have to walk and squat so much as she worked and cleaned.

Cinder let out a dry bark of laughter.

"This… could work." Her blood-shot amber eyes glinted with a little pride.

She'd make it work. It was all working.

She could do this.

She opened the window to her motel room, not even a bug screen to pinch pennies, and peered into a dark alleyway below.

Why even have a window for this? All hotel/motel owners must be worthless.

She looked left. Right.

Good.

Stepping over to her duffle bag and hefting it over her shoulder, she began to use Scorch, no. That didn't sound like a Huntress's Semblance. It needed to be… bigger. More bombastic. A hint of elegance. Class? Ugh. Something other than that. Not after the Unicorn.

"...Scorching Caress." It was better.

Maybe even a little sultry? Sexy?

What did sexy even look or sound like?

She'd heard other civilians talk about Huntsmen and Huntresses with that descriptor, though. That they were lean and sexy.

She had to TRY to be a bit sexy. Whatever that meant.

Cinder spread smoldering cloth throughout her room, watching as the carpet and wallpaper began to smolder and burn as she additionally ran her hands along them. She then reached over to the door of her motel room, melting the doorknob and locks, preventing anyone from unlocking the door from outside.

Then she set the bed on fire too. Just to be safe.

She'd already stolen the sheets.

She turned and quickly leapt out the window, sliding it mostly shut, but still leaving it open to feed the flames plenty of oxygen.

Briefly, Cinder sniffed herself and scowled.

Really, she should probably have started with the doorknob and lock first, then set the rest of the place ablaze to hide traces of her existence.

She smelled faintly of smoke, but even that amount made her uncomfortable, now with another cardinal crime under her belt. That scent might not have been out of place on the road, but there was no reason to smell like that in Atlas. Not unless it was laced with the scent of tobacco, but she hated that scent too.

And every hint of her crimes were a chance that she'd lose her freedom.

She hated feeling so weak.

She quickly walked away and out of the alley way and down the street with head held high, as if she was walking with purpose.

The fact that THAT specific bit of 'advice' which had been more like a demand from her 'family' for the sake of their hotel service was now being used to hide the girl that killed them gave her an oddly exhilarating giggle.

She liked this irony. Cinder smiled. It hurt to smile, she wasn't used to it, but it was liberating.

Nobody should suspect the little brown-haired Huntress in training.

The man at the motel that had leered at her in a way that made her double check her locks had seen a scared, alone, black haired girl, after all. Someone he might be able to take advantage of later.

His gaze had made her feel sick.

"Hold yourself differently." She muttered to herself. "Be someone else. Don't be Cinder, be… anyone else. Anyone."

She walked by a storefront of a bakery, a few cute loaves of bread with the ends shaped like foxes.

She gulped, feeling her empty stomach, checked her pockets, feeling she still had a few handfuls of Lien. She'd… she'd just buy the cheapest and most filling loaf of bread she could find. Something hearty.

She needed to stretch it all out.

Her eyes flicked to look at herself, meeting the reflection of her visage.

Brown hair with pale skin, tan linen top with green trim and cloth ties, a little black corset pinched her hips just enough that her padded bra made her look a bit more adult. Green cloth belt held up black slacks that made her legs look passable and flattering.

Her shoes were still ugly black sneakers, but that couldn't be helped right now.

And her amber eyes looked scared. And puffy. That didn't look great. She looked miserable even with her fake smile.

She narrowed them, trying to intensify her gaze. That. That looked better.

Almost confident. Even with the puffiness.

"Amber." She muttered without thinking.

She'd never really thought about the color of her eyes. It had never been important.

But her eyes needed to look as confident, sexy, or whatever a Huntress was supposed to be.

She was still fifteen. She was improvising!

She stepped inside, looking around and quickly grabbing the cheapest, largest loaf. It smelled fine, nothing too special, but it was still warm. Somewhat fresh still.

Her stomach felt tight and awful still, but Cinder was hungry. And she'd definitely need to eat something that she could keep down. Bread was good for that. Or good enough at least.

The clerk in the front was friendly, trying to make small talk, making Cinder realize she hadn't prepared herself for any potential conversation.

She fumbled her way through, but the clerk wasn't police. He didn't care enough to look for and pick out inconsistencies. Hopefully he'd assume she was just a bit shy. Or bad at conversation, which wasn't too far off from the truth.

"Alright. Would you also like a cup of coffee? On the house for a Huntress in training!" He grinned helpfully, leaning over the counter slightly.

She just nodded.

It would be extra calories, and caffeine would help keep her senses sharper while it was still in her system.

Her eyes caught on a silver platter. Her amber eyes, murky and puffed up, stared back.

She was being pitied wasn't she? Whatever it was calories. She'd need it. Her eyes looked awful. Why had she thought she could pull this off? Her eyes were-

"Who should I make it out to then? Miss future protector of humanity?"

"Amber." Cinder blurted without thinking, feeling suddenly like a fool. Then she spoke up again a bit more confidently. Pretending that she'd meant to say that.

Fake it. Make it. Make it.

"Make it out for Amber."