Prologue: Lied

A Log Cabin in the Wilderness of Vale

Flames ate through the door, gnawed on the ceiling beams, licked the tips of his shoes, and their roar was the music for her entrance. Hair as black as sin and a dress as red as blood, Cinder entered his room. Seated in his chair against the opposite wall, he levelled Melodic Cudgel at her and fired. The firework-like bullet went straight through her as if she were a ghost, soaring out the door and exploding in the snow outside. Roman kept up his confident facade with his signature smirk, but he knew this was the end. Her follower already had his mind in her hands and was playing with it like it was damn silly putty. Cinder's smugness radiated from her as she approached him. A ceiling beam fell behind her, consumed by the flames. Roman wiped the sweat off his brow and began to fan himself with a handful of lien cards.

"You must make a fortune, Hotfoot. I can't imagine how much you save people on their heating bills." Roman sneered. "Which brings into question what a human heater such as yourself is doing in a dress like that. The ball is down the road and straight off the cliff, Hotfoot. You should hurry up. They're waiting for you to jump."

"Is that all you have? You must be tired. How cute." Cinder chuckled. "It's been quite a chase. You can only use your little follower as a diversion for so long, Roman." Cinder leaned in close. "No matter how far you run or how well you try to hide, I will find you. I am your angel of death. You can't avoid the inevitable." She stroked his cheek with a hand marred by burn scars.

He looked past her, looked for the seams, the little details that often went unnoticed. Smell, sound, even taste were masked to make him believe his cabin was on fire. He stared through the flames, the brightness searing his eyes. Behind Cinder, towards the door, were two sets of snowy footprints. One stopped to the right of the door in the corner, while the other went farther left and stopped near a window. 50/50 chance. He could raise those odds.

"Unless you're about to pull a halo out of your ass..." Roman grinned. "Angel is a strong word for a bitch in heat. "

He threw his handful of lien and fell backwards out of his chair, narrowly dodging the blade of glass that came from his left and pierced the wooden wall behind him. As he fell, he fired off another shot from Melodic Cudgel, this time aimed at the right corner, opposite the direction of where the blade came from. A girl screamed and the Cinder in front of him vanished along with the flames that "consumed" his cabin. Now visible, a green-haired girl, Emerald, was collapsed against the wall near the door and Cinder glowered off to his left with a black knife in her hand. Free from the illusion, Roman pushed himself to his feet and ran at Cinder. She threw a kick at him on reflex, but he slid underneath and swept her remaining foot with Melodic Cudgel. Cinder caught herself with her free hand and flipped herself back onto her feet while Roman continued past her and out the door. Scowling, she threw her knife at him.

Cinder's knife found her target and Roman tripped down the stairs of the cabin and fell into the snow. Glancing back to see that smug face in the doorway of his hideout, Roman cursed and continued running into the snow, leaving a trail of blood behind him. There was no doubt he'd be easy to track now. The only reason he could keep trudging through the snow was that she was playing with him.

He hated being toyed with.

Roman fell again, gasping for air as heat continued to leak out of his body and stain the snow red. He'd been so close. Where did he go wrong? What mistake did he make? His eyelids grew heavier than he'd ever thought they could. The icy wastes began to feel warm, like the mother's embrace Roman had never known. The white flakes became a blanket for him, the soft ground an eternal pillow for his weary head. He knew what she wanted. Cinder wanted to watch him die and laugh and monologue and all the other things he'd be doing if he were in her position. Even if he ran and survived, she'd never let him go.

Then… wouldn't the best answer be to stop running then? To not give her the satisfaction of seeing what expression he made as he died? He tried to lift his body but his arms spasmed and went back face first into the snow. His legs only kicked up more snow and made him colder. He tried to crawl, but he couldn't get a good grip on any snow or ice. The nearest tree root was too far away. Roman tasted iron in his mouth and realized he'd been biting his lip the whole time.

Stretching his arm out into the snow, he lifted his middle finger. If he was going to die frozen, he'd leave a little something for her. She'd probably roll her eyes at the gesture or laugh at the futility of it. His breathing became even more shallow, and his chest hurt. Cardiac arrest. Wouldn't be long now.

Neo was out there somewhere, waiting with her illusions ready for an attack from Cinder that would never arrive. When she found out he died, would she miss him? Would she avenge him?

Would she even care?

Roman coughed out a laugh with red-stained teeth and gave one last smirk.

The world was cold.

"Before you ask, last night was a bust too. Because of course it was." Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. Pulling a knife out of one of his desk drawers, Roman continued, "Just my luck, Neo. I get the best damn Semblance this side of Remnant, but, no matter what I do, I kick the damned bucket right into a pit of fire and snakes and fall right in after it."

Roman threw the knife straight at the hand-drawn poster of Cinder pinned to the opposite wall of his office, but, like all the others, it hit the wall at the wrong angle and bounced off. He reached for another knife, but frowned when he saw his desk drawer empty. Neo briefly applauded at the attempted throw, but continued playing the game on her Scroll a moment later.

Torchwick Furniture Co.™ was his business cover that, so far, had successfully masked his less than legal ventures thanks to the few warehouses he was able to get his hands on. He had a plain, oak desk and a few office chairs with some filing cabinets in the corner. The room's spartan decor spoke of how little he cared for social aspect of the furniture cover and how few clients he received. It only had one window alongside the left wall, and a door sat against the wall across from Roman. Neo, his pink and brown-haired and eyed follower, had curled up into the office chair across him on the opposite side of his desk, and she was furiously tapping away at the Scroll with the pink tip of her tongue poking out between her lips.

It was her "intense concentration" face.

"Knife in the back, blood all over the snow. An absolute mess," Roman said to Neo, rubbing his back. Like every time, the pain took a while to go away. She smiled when he said that, no doubt having fond bloody snow-related memories. Or something else entirely. Even Roman hardly knew what she was thinking most of the time.

He spun his chair around to look at the bare wall behind his desk. The visions had been coming for a while now. Ever since Cinder approached him with a proposal for a plan to steal all the Dust from Vale, he kept experiencing his own death. He'd never expected Cinder's intimidation to go far enough to trigger a Semblance awakening, but, ever since the first vision where he'd been devoured by a Grimm in the middle of a fight, Roman had set his sights on one goal. Surviving. Unfortunately, every day he planned and made a different decision was ruined when night came and sleep showed him a new death. He'd long given up on sleeping normally.

Cinder's deadline for his answer was that very night and he couldn't talk his way into buying more time. Joining her resulted in death by a young girl in red, but refusing Cinder resulted in her or her little henchmen killing him.

He'd been burned alive by her multiple times.

Tricked via illusion into running off a cliff.

Stabbed repeatedly. Saying "No, not the face!" didn't work.

His ass was kicked through, both figuratively and literally.

Boiled like he was nasty, human-sized noodle.

Forced to swallow a small Grimm that tasted like cold coffee... only for that same Grimm to burst through his chest a few minutes later.

Oh, and he was pushed in front of an ambulance once. By Cinder. He almost laughed at that one.

There was no way out. He couldn't hire enough protection to stop her if he spent every last lien he had. Although he'd worked so hard to build up his cover and steal what he could get away with stealing, he still couldn't compare to big business-owning criminals like Junior. Roman was small-time and Cinder knew it. He was trapped.

"Neo, I pay you well, correct?" Roman asked. Neo frowned and got out of her chair before walking over to him and holding cupping her hands together. Her lips quivered and her eyebrows drew up. Sighing, Roman reached inside his jacket, pulled out a lien card, and then tossed it to her. Neo caught it between her index and middle finger and winked at him.

"Neo, I pay you well, correct?" He repeated. This time Neo nodded, to his wallet's relief. "Then I think it's time you contribute to your employer's well being. Any suggestions worth a 50,000 lien bonus?"

Hearing the magic words, Neo tilted her head for a moment before snapping her fingers. Beaming, she walked over to the window and pointed out something in the distance. Beacon Academy. Roman sighed.

"It's completely idiotic and there is no way this will work, but... that may just be what Cinder is thinking as well. Fine, let's do something stupid." He stood and stretched his arms. "I'll go test the water, then be back for a quick nap. Watch the office while I'm gone and wait for my messages, Neo. And for the love of Remnant, don't stab the customers this time. I don't need the extra headache."

Neo gave a worryingly angelic smile.

Roman moved towards the door, but stopped when his hand touched the doorknob. He looked back at Neo, the one person who'd been with him ever since he started his thieving affairs and had never left his side since. He didn't have any family, nor any friends who wouldn't stab him in the back if they thought it would get them ahead. As far as he knew, neither did she. Then again, he hardly knew any personal details about her. Not even her age.

He couldn't stop the question starting to form in his mouth. "Neo, hypothetically, if I actually died …"

Neo nodded expressionlessly, urging him to go on. Roman looked away from her and tipped his black bowler hat down.

"Nevermind. It was a stupid question. I already know the answer."

Ozpin relaxed in his office for the first time in weeks. Even though the new students had not yet come in, the last few weeks had been rife with problems with the dorms or Professor Port's captured Grimm escaping. The headmaster of Beacon sipped hot chocolate from his mug and closed his eyes, listening to the gentle, eternal clockwork of his office.

On his desk, his work Scroll lit up with a message. Answering the Scroll, Ozpin leaned into his chair, enjoying the gentle creaking as his eyes met with the gears above him.

"Yes, Glynda?"

"Somebody of interest just arrived."

"Oh? And who would that be exactly?"

"Roman Torchwick. He apparently wishes to 'cut a deal'."

Ozpin smiled. This situation wasn't abnormal. Huntsmen and Huntresses were necessary for fighting the Grimm and Ozpin wouldn't dare let potential capable students slip through his fingers. He wasn't afraid of granting a second chance for those who had the ability. Mankind had to be united against the Grimm rather than spend time tearing each other apart. It was his hope that there could be an undercurrent of rehabilitation in his Academy. Heroes could come from the unlikeliest of places, after all.

He'd seen such stories happen firsthand.

"Allow me to guess. He's seeking protection from a criminal he's enraged."

"Right as always, Headmaster."

"In that case, the usual. All his criminal contacts must be handed over, all his under the table deals and contracts exposed, and all ties to criminal society severed. Oh, and do tell him we'll take good care of that furniture business for him until he properly becomes a Huntsman."

"Understood. Would you like to speak to him, sir? He claims to have information about an individual who wants to, and I quote, 'steal all the Dust in Vale'."

Ozpin paused and he could feel the gears grinding through the floor, sending vibration after vibration into him.

"Please send him up, Glynda."

If others knew what he did with these criminals that applied to Beacon, they wouldn't understand. The fact that Beacon still stood despite this program spoke only of how effective it was... and how severe the punishment for breaking his trust was.

"This 'Cinder' plans to steal all the Dust in Vale? For what purpose?" Ozpin asked. Seated opposite of him was Roman, holding a manila envelope and fanning himself with it.

"Why would I know? Maybe you did something to piss her off, hmm? Maybe a little Grimm killed her family and those famous Huntsmen of yours weren't there to save her. You Huntsmen do like to be everywhere but where you're needed, after all," Roman replied airily. Ozpin raised an eyebrow, but, smiling, took a sip from his mug. The gears above grinded against each other, but he could hear them stutter. They'd never stuttered before.

"You'll soon see how untrue that is. That aside, I suppose we'll have to keep a closer eye on our Dust. If this information proves reliable, I will compensate you, of course. I would also like to thank you for your cooperation with all of our conditions." In response, Roman slid the manila envelope across the desk. Ozpin grabbed it and opened it before pulling out one of the documents.

"Your lackey tried to explain it to me, but I already knew. Preparation is key, after all. My life comes first. I'd be a lunatic if I thought differently," Roman answered. "Every contact since I started working in Vale and all the information I have on that flaming bitch is right there. Is that a fair enough price?"

"Of course." Ozpin slid paper he'd been reading back into the envelope and tucked the whole package under his left arm. "However, the goal of you joining us is that you will think differently." Ozpin extended his right hand, which Roman shook with a smug smirk. "Welcome to Beacon. Until the time classes begin, you'll be under our protection. You'll be given a new identity as well, for your own safety."

Roman stood.

"A pleasure doing business with you. You know where to find me once you've verified all that information." He tipped his hat and turned away, heading towards the door.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something." Ozpin stood from behind his desk. "Until classes start, you'll be under our protection. I'm afraid I can't let you leave and risk your life. Or, perhaps, go warn your contacts. Though surely you've already warned them, correct?" Ozpin grinned at Roman's silence. "This is all simply common sense. After all, I'm sure you understand the risk we're undertaking by protecting you. Oh, and we'll be taking your Scroll too. Temporarily, of course."

Roman froze.

"You've masterfully avoided getting caught red-handed. You're a petty thief, Roman, but I've been watching you. You're clever, dextrous, and charismatic. You'll make a great Huntsman." Ozpin drank from his mug. "The only thing I can't seem to understand is why a 'technically innocent' individual like yourself would come here and seek the criminal's deal."

Roman turned, smiling innocently. "I need the extra protection and I want to put a foot-long thorn on Hotfoot's little throne," Roman said. "I'm no fool. Although the cops can't make a move on me, you know whenever a criminal tries to apply. I thought I'd cut out the middleman and bring a little... incentive as well."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes before mirroring Roman's smile. "Either way, you're here now. Feel free to head back down to the ground floor after you place your Scroll on my desk. Professor Port will show to your dorms. We'll send someone to get your luggage later. Don't worry. That includes your weapon."

Roman opened his mouth to say something, but, apparently thinking better of it, closed his mouth, threw his Scroll at Ozpin's desk, and turned around and walked to the elevator at the back of the office.

"Your second Scroll as well," Ozpin called out. The headmaster caught the high velocity Scroll thrown at him with one hand and smiled. "I don't think I need to say what might happen if you left out any information out or lied to me, do I?"

Once inside the elevator, Roman's anger disappeared and he smirked.

He reached into the front of his pants and pulled out a third Scroll. Crude, but effective.

"It was easier than I thought. I'll be staying here for two months until classes start. You know what to do. Make sure it looks real. They need to buy it completely. And no need to warn any of our 'friends'. They'll need to take the fall for me this time."

A feminine grunt of affirmation came through the other line and, satisfied with the reply, Roman hung up. If they're going to keep an extra close eye on the "criminal" student, then he's that much safer. It was just a short stint in a much more comfortable prison with better food. He'd spent time in worse places.

That night, after a horrendous day of storytelling with a portly professor, Roman fell asleep in a dorm room all to himself.

In a Warehouse in Vale

On the edge of the Industrial District in Vale where the police presence was almost non-existent, one warehouse away from all the others had its lights on. The warehouse itself was three houses wide and constructed from metal walls. Those metal walls were topped by a glass ceiling that had long been dirtied to the point that not a soul could see through them. Amidst rusted walls and mountains of crates, Cinder's trio waited for a certain somebody.

"He's running late. I don't like this," Emerald said for the tenth time. The green-haired girl sat atop one of the money wooden crates in the area while Mercury had made himself comfortable and was fine-tuning one of his metal legs in a chair he'd brought himself. Cinder refused to sit, of course. It was hard to appear threatening in a folding chair.

"Patience, Emerald. His type submits to power. And power is what we have to spare. I'm certain he knows which side is the winning one," Cinder assured her subordinate. Mercury whistled as he tightened a bolt on his leg with his wrench.

"That's nice and all, but can I kill him if he doesn't show up soon? It's been far too long," he asked.

"Oh, come on! It's only been a week since last time!" Emerald shouted. Mercury sighed.

"Tsk, tsk. A week is too long. Besides, it's not like anybody would miss him." Mercury grinned.

"What makes you think you get the right to kill him?" Emerald asked, leaning forward with her arms crossed.

"Silence," Cinder commanded. The two of them obeyed, though not before Mercury knocked an eyebrow in Emerald's direction and smirked. The large, metal warehouse door opened and in walked an exceedingly short figure wearing a large backpack. Roman's follow, Neopolitan, had arrived without her boss around. Neo smiled before skipping over to just in front of the trio of villains.

"So he was too afraid to show up in person," Cinder remarked, shaking her head. "I expected better of him. I take it he either sent you to die or to deliver his acceptance. So which is it?"

Neo stared at her and didn't move, her lifeless pink and brown eyes contrasting with her innocent grin. Cinder nodded at Emerald, letting her know to use an illusion as an insurance. This seemed too odd. Cinder had seen this girl beforehand trailing behind Roman. She was a secretary of sorts, Cinder had figured.

"What's with this girl? It's like her head's… not even there?" Emerald said, her eyes widening. Without hesitation, Cinder's dress glowed and she threw sand in the air, superheating it into glass before throwing the hot dagger at the girl.

The space in front of the girl shattered, a cobweb of cracks appearing in midair before falling down like glass that dissipated upon touching the floor, revealing the large backpack the girl had been holding. Red dust bled out onto the floor from a large cut in the bag and the words "Burn, Bitch" were written on the front of it. Of course, Cinder had hardly any time to read that before her heated dagger pierced it.

The resulting explosion of heat and force melted the ground near the bag, the crates around it broke into woodchips and then burned into ash. The glass ceiling broke apart and shards of sharp glass rained down before being liquidized by the heat as the force tore about the doors and walls of the warehouse to escape it and spread out, causing fire damage to the two warehouse on either side and scorching their walls. Dock workers outside the warehouse ran, some being crushed by heated debris while those unfortunate enough to be walking past it caught fire from the explosion. Some dove into the water. Others didn't make it.

However, in the collapsing warehouse, a thick, triple-reinforced wall of glass stood, half-melted. Cinder coughed out a lungful of smoke as she collapsed to her knees. Her Aura had been completely depleted despite the power she'd gained from the Fall Maiden and her hands were severely burned from holding the glass wall, but she had survived. Behind her, Emerald and Mercury also coughed, struggling to breath. Everything around them burned and the smoke was relentless, drying out and cooking their insides with every breath.

Ever since Cinder had gained half of the Fall Maiden's power, she'd felt secure, safe even. Nobody could compare to her. Cinder had control over her life, her destiny, over the lives of others. Cinder had the power she'd always dreamed of. She'd even forgotten what fear felt like.

Cinder looked down at her burnt hands and trembled. Emerald and Mercury got to their feet and lifted her to her feet, carrying her out of the warehouse while being mindful of her hands. Cinder's hands wouldn't stop shaking no matter how she tried to force them, her spine wouldn't heat up, her sweat wouldn't evaporate.

The rest was a blur.

Bright lights and police showed up, saw their faces.

Emerald and Mercury shouted, left her to rest and fought.

She felt something cold on her hands.

Something soft beneath her head.

Her eyelids grew heavy, and before she knew it she fled into sleep.

On that day, Cinder swore.

No matter what, she would erase Roman Torchwick from Remnant.

Excerpt from the Vale Police Department report submitted to Ozpin

...seven dead and five left severely injured. One of the burnt corpses was much smaller than the others. Forensics believes that a little girl was caught in the blast. The three suspects behind the attack were injured and not only fled from police questioning, but assaulted and severely injured seven officers. Four of them are not expected to survive the night. A manhunt is currently underway for the three suspects and their likenesses are being sketched as this report is being typed. Although we currently do not know as to why they targeted this specific warehouse, some of our analysts suspect this may be a terrorist attack. We are taking measures to reduce media coverage so as to not fulfill their probable goal.

On our pride as the VPD, we will catch them.

A/N: My first attempt at a RWBY fic of any kind. Had this idea for a while and really took a lot of time trying to form this fic. Went through many revisions. I know this fandom is big on ships, but I'm not going to declare any. Things will develop naturally.

Side note: I'm taking "lien" to be equivalent to yen in value rather than dollars.

Also, Flux Casey and I did a full review of RWBY over on Fandom Flux on youtube, so check that out if you're interested.

If you're a fan of my writing who is curious about my main story, don't worry. I'm working on the next chapter. Been a busy couple of months and I needed to get this one out.

Thanks for reading.