1 Chapter 1: Cinder

by UnknownkingfromAO3

The continent of Solitas was a desolate tundra that was the farthest north of all the kingdoms. As such, it played an important role in Ozpin's defense strategy.

However, after the war, corruption had taken root deep into the kingdom and it was believed that even the communication network wasn't safe, forcing Oz to send lone messengers to his newest lieutenant James Ironwood.

And doing that, there was always the risk of bandit attack.

"You there! Give me all your money or I'll gut you like a fish!"

Summer blinked in surprise. When Ozpin had sent her to Atlas with crucial information, she had expected trouble. What she hadn't expected was a little girl (in the middle of the tundra!) who couldn't even have been sixteen standing before her wielding twin blades demanding her money.

"I'm sorry, but who are you? You don't look like any bandit I've seen. Where are your parents?" Summer asked.

"Don't know, don't care. Now give me your money! I'll count to three, if you don't give it to me then, I'll kill you and take it!" The girl growled. Summer felt her heart go out to the child, no wonder she was out here robbing people. Summer was well aware there was no system in place for helping orphans. Adults were struggling to find work as it was. The war had messed everyone up, but the children had no voice or way to represent themselves to the government.

"Three!" Suddenly, the child lunged forward, her blades outstretched.

Immediately, Summer's muscle memory kicked in. She stepped to the side, dodging the blades, next she planted one foot in between her opponent's, then she grabbed the child's wrist and her chest and threw her overhead.

The girl flew through the air, eyes widened with surprise, before she painfully landed on her back several feet away.

Summer immediately felt bad. She hadn't intended to be so rough on a child.

Before she could ask if the girl was okay, she got quite a surprise as said girl rolled onto her shoulders, then used her arms to push herself off the ground with a flip and landed back on her feet.

This just got even more interesting. This girl clearly had some kind of training, nobody could do stunts like that without it. In fact if she didn't know any better...

"Your huntress!?" Summer blurted out. She realized she had said the wrong thing because the girl's narrowed angrily. "No! I'll never become one of those bastards!" Before Summer could try and defuse the situation, the girl charged again.

Summer found herself on the back foot as she dodged and blocked, the girl fast and powerful strikes. As she did, she studied the girl's moments and fighting style. She was quick. She clearly used aggression to try to overwhelm her opponents with little regard for her defense.

As the girl performed a downward swing Summer, saw her opening. She moved in to try and pin the girl to the ground. She grabbed her wrist and began trying to trip her up, but the girl spun and kicked her hand away.

Summer staggered, leaving her vulnerable. The girl wastes no time and landed two quick strikes on Summer's chest, then a jab knocking the huntress to the ground. The girl jumped onto her with her blades positioned like scissors to decapitate the huntress.

Summer realized she couldn't win like this. As much as she hated too, she'd have to fight back.

With a single quick moment, Summer drew a curved blade from her belt. The guard was shaped like red rose petals with the white blade blooming from the center. There was a defining clang as the steel clashed. The girl let up slightly in surprise, giving Summer a chance to kick her in the side knocking her away.

Once on her feet Summer drew her second blade, nearly identical to the first, except the blade was red and the guard was white. These weapons had been her trusty partners since Beacon, her thorn and petal.

"Surrender!" Summer yelled. "I'm a trained huntress! You can't win this fight!" The girl let out a low growl as she got to her feet. Her grip on her weapons tightens. Her gaze became a heated glare as she stared down her opponent.

"Didn't help the last guy." She snarled, then charged yet again. Summer blocked and parried the girl blows, she had to admit the girl's determination was impressive. Even most full grown huntsmen and huntresses would struggle to keep pace in terms of sheer willpower.

The girl thrust forward, giving Summer an opening. She sidestepped the girl again and was about to try to pin her again when she saw a smirk cross the girl's face.

Summer realized it was a trap just in time to dodge as the girl threw her second sword at her. But in doing so she had left herself off-balance, letting the girl kick her to the ground.

Before she could get to her feet the girl was charging her again, this time with an overhead strike. Summer crouched down on all fours as the girl approached. Then right as she swung, Summer leaped over her.

She had used this move on Qrow so many times it had become one of her favorites just because of the cursing that followed. Her cloak would blind him while she leapt gracefully out of harm's way, and with his luck he'd always end up tripping over it at some point.

However, to her immense surprise, the girl drove her sword into her cloak, pinning the huntress to the ground, and in the flurry of cloth, the girl vanished.

Unable to escape, Summer fell into a heap on the ground as her cloak choked her. She hadn't expected a kid to counter so quickly. Clearly she had underestimated this child.

Summer realized she had lost track of her opponent. She undid the clasp of her cloak and leapt to her feet. She scanned the tundra for the kid, but saw nothing. Had she run away? No. Not without her weapons. Those were the only things she had besides the clothes on her back. But then where was-

Suddenly, a pair of small legs wrapped around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides. The girl had hidden under the cloak and attacked when Summer's back was turned.

She cursed as the girl grabbed her neck. Summer knew aura couldn't protect her for strangling, but the girl's hands were too small. How was she-

A burning heat filled her throat. The girl's hand had become white-hot as she gripped her neck. She was using fire dust or her semblance to burn away at her aura. Summer didn't know which, but that didn't matter right now. She couldn't hold back anymore.

Summer leapt into the air, then slammed herself back onto the ground, crushing the girl beneath her. With her grip loosened, Summer ripped her arms up, knocking the girl's legs off, and grabbing the girl by her hair and pulling her off her back and onto the snow.

Summer then activated her semblance. A flurry of petals flow around her, blinding anyone around her. Pressing a button, Summer releases finely crushed ice dust from her sword that was swept up by the current.

Leaping back, Summer saw the dust freeze the petals, turning the blinding blizzard into a frozen rose petals meat grinder, attacking anyone inside them with a countless number of attacks. The girl screamed as she was torn up by the attack. Unable to defend herself, she covered her head and waited for it to stop.

Summer's petals were linked to the huntress, she could sense everything they touched and how hard said object was. She waited until the girl's aura broke before she released her technique.

As the petals stopped, Summer saw the girl curled up in a ball trying to defend herself. Summer approached carefully. She didn't want to frighten her anymore then she already had.

"I'm sorry." She said as she slowly approached. "I didn't want to have to use that, but you put up quite a fight. Almost had me there." The girl didn't move.

"Let's get you to Atlas. I'm sure we'll be able to figure this whole mess out up there, okay?" Summer was close enough to touch her now, but the girl still didn't move. She must be terrified.

Summer hated that fact she had traumatized a child. She crouched down and offered her a hand. "Hey. You okay? Don't worry. I'll personally see that you're set up with a loving family somewhere in Atlas. You won't have to steal to survive again. That sounds nice, doesn't it?"

Summer's hand brushed against the girl's head and she noticed something. The girl wasn't shaking.

She had seen other kids scared and she always noticed how they would always shake like a leaf when scared, but this girl wasn't. How could-

Immediately, Summer realized what was happening. She withdrew her hand and leapt back just in time as the girl tried lunged forward to snatch her sword. Acting on muscle memory, Summer's leg lashed out, crashing into the girl's temple and knocking her several feet away where she landed limply in the snow and lay still.

Slowly, Summer approached the girl and poked her with the flat edge of her sword. No response.

Kneeling down gave her a clear view of the girl's face, and she saw her eyes were closed and her temple was bleeding. She was out cold.

With a sigh of relief, Summer sheathed her weapons and went to retrieve her cloak. As she walked, she replayed the fight in her head. Every movement and every instinct told her this poor girl's story. She was trained by a huntsman for years before something happened and she wound up leaving the poor bastard. Then she had come all the way out here to try to make a living stealing from travelers. And had probably been successful until Summer herself had shown up.

But now? The poor thing had no future. Atlas wasn't known for their understanding or generosity, even towards children. If she really had crossed a huntsman, then she'd be looking at a life sentence at least. Never mind the undoubtedly numerous charges of theft.

Summer looked down at the girl as she felt her heart-break for her. A part of her wondered if she should just finish her off here and now, save her for the bs trial she'd face in Atlas.

But that just felt so wrong. She knew there was no hope for her and yet she still wanted to do something for her. Maybe she could try to play it off that she had brought her along as an apprentice? She looked a little young but she probably could get it pasted most of the council, with the exception of general Ironwood of course.

"General Ironwood!" Summer yelled. She had completely forgotten about her mission and the perks that came along with working for Ozpin. If she could just convince him to let this one go, then she could take the girl back to Patch and get her in the orphanage or even put her in with a family friend.

She had never met the general before, but according to Qrow, he was stubborn, pig-headed, (his words, not hers.) and had the worst case of tunnel vision in Remnant. He didn't understand why Oz would trust him.

But Qrow had never liked Atlas and Summer knew all too well he only ever saw the bad parts of people. She knew the general had his heart in the right place, or Ozpin wouldn't have trusted him. She knew the burden of being a leader would naturally make someone more decisive in their choices. And when those choices didn't match someone else's ideologue, then their going to view them as incompetent.

Carefully, Summer picked the girl up and draped her cloak over her, carefully wrapping it tight enough to limit the girl's movement without hurting her. She then picked up the girl's swords and made haste for Mantle.

Summer waited at the airship dock for her ship to arrive. Apparently, there was an incident in which someone crashed an airship just outside the city limits a few days ago. While the military huntsman looked into it all traffic between the kingdom and it's slums had slowed to a crawl.

What a day. First she was attacked by a kid, now she was stuck waiting in an unsafe neighborhood with said kid who'll properly try to attack her again upon waking. And even if she didn't, the catcalls and wolf whistle's made her feel sick. She ran her fingers over her wedding ring as a reminder she was loved and her family was waiting for her back home.

She wondered how they were doing. About now, Yang would be shock awake by her energetic sister, before trapping said girl in a tight hug and tickling her as revenge. Then they'd run downstairs and have breakfast with Tai. If they were out of Cookie Crisps, Ruby would probably put on her grumpy face until Tai offered to take them shopping later. At which point Ruby would cheer loudly and wolf down her food, probably choking on it in the process. Of course, Yang would overreact and start giving her sister the Heimlich maneuver until she had gotten it out, then say Ruby should spend the rest of the day in bed resting. Ruby, of course, would argue that she was fine and say she wasn't going to bed until they went shopping. They would continue arguing until Tai reminded Yang about homework, at which point, the older sister would race upstairs to get it finished so she could go shopping too, most likely forgetting to brush her teeth and then try to do both at once, spill toothpaste over her homework and try to clean only to make it worse. Eventually, Tai would go check on her and help clean up before promising a sweet treat on the way home. He always played it like Summer didn't know, he might even believe she didn't, but he was always such a bad lair. She remembered back in Beacon when they were trying to prepare Qrow and Raven's birthday party, he had accidentally tipped her off that they were up to something and said girl had dangled him out the third story window until he talked. Of course once she had found out, she had made an effort to try and act surprised (anything more than indifference was trying with Raven.) when Summer had revealed it to the twins. That had been such a fun day. It was probably the first time they had properly bounded as a team. In fact, now that she thought about it, she was convinced that Tai had developed his crush on Raven when he was hanging outside the window. After all, he had such a-

"Aah…"

Summer's rambling thoughts were interrupted by a groan beside her. Looking down, she saw the girl was coming too. She quickly got up to offer any assistance she could to the injured girl.

Said girl didn't notice right away, instead sitting up with her own strength. Her hand rubbed her bandage head (Summer had treated it on her way into the city.) and her eyes scanned her surroundings in confusion.

"Ma'm?" The girl said unsurely. "Do you need me to clean something again? I did everything last night. There's nothing left to clean." Summer assumed that was the lump on her head talking and eased the girl back down when she tried to stand.

"No dear." Summer said gently. "You don't have to clean anything. You need to sit here and rest while I make plans on finding you a better home." The girl stared blankly at Summer. Her mind struggling to place the woman in its jostled state. Then her eyes widened as the memory came flooding back.

Immediately, she tried to leap back, but in her weakened state, she lost her balance mid step and nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately, Summer had expected that and managed to catch her just in time.

"Let me go!" The girl yelled as she struggled against the older woman. Without her aura, she began clawing at Summer's eyes and hair ferociously. "Let me go bitch!"

"No. No! Stop it! I'm- gah! I'm not going to hurt you! I'm- Ahh! I'm trying to help!" After a bit of struggling, Summer managed to pin the girl's arms to the ground and hold them in place.

"I don't need help!" The girl screamed. "I'm not going back to Atlas! I'm not going to jail! They started it! They deserved it! I won't live in captivity anymore! I won't!" With her final definite yell, she bit Summer's hand.

"Gah!" Summer cried. How the hell did this kid have such a powerful bite force? If it wasn't for her aura, she'd have lost a finger.

"Ahh! Let me go! No biting! I'm trying to help you!" Summer yelled as she tried to free her hand. "I'm not leaving you in Atlas! I know it's horrible there! I'll see to it that you can go anywhere you want, but I can't do that without my thumb!"

Immediately, the girl let go and stared at her wide-eyed. Her expression was completely different from what it was seconds ago.

"You mean that?" She asked breathlessly. "You'll help me go anywhere I want?"

Summer smiled down at her as she released the girl. "Yep! I'll make sure you can find a loving home in any of the other kingdoms. I know people from all over, so it'll be a snap!" Summer said as she hit herself in the chest. "I just need to talk with a friend here, he'll wrestle you up with some paperwork and we'll be all set. Just give me till," she looked up at a nearby clock and saw it was about nine pm. "Midnight and I'll have everything ready or it'll be being processed. And that's a Summer Rose promise!"

The girl just stared at her. "Is that a good thing?" She asked confused, causing Summer to giggle. "Yep. It means I'm promising on my name and if I can't keep, then I'll legally change it to miss poopy head! I don't hold anything back when it comes to this stuff!" Summer put her hand on her hips and looked with her eyes closed, in what she believed made her look heroic, but all her teammates called, well, corny was one of the nicer ones.

The girl stared at her, then she let out a quiet giggle. Summer smiled at the girl, then offered her a hand. She seemed hesitant at first, but eventually, she reached out and took Summer's outstretched hand, and let the huntress help her up.

"Alright, glad to be of service!" Summer said with a solute. "My ride will be here shortly, then it's straight to Atlas to finish my mission and get you your paper, then I'll help you find a new home…er. Sorry. What was your name again?" She slumped slightly at the awkward position she was in. She really hoped she hadn't introduced herself and she had just forgotten.

But Summer's silly antics had put a smile on the girl's face, so she was quite happy with the results. She just hoped it would stay there when this girl did find a home.

"Cinder." The girl said. Summer blinked in confusion. Was the girl cold?

Her confusion must have shown because the girl had spoken again before she could ask. "My name, Cinder."

Cinder. What an odd name. Summer thought. But nevertheless, she offered the girl, Cinder, her hand and was quickly accepted by the young girl. "Nice to meet you Cinder. I think we'll be good friends."