RWBY 3: Fall

Part 7 - The Voice In Her Head

Raven's eyes started to tear up. After all the horrors she had been through... all the death she had seen... it wasn't over. If she did become the Fall maiden she would find herself locked in combat for the rest of her life, fighting endless hoards of grimm.

"But, where are my manners?" Cinder chuckled "I've seen your memories, but you haven't seen mine." she leant in closer. Her lips almost touched Raven's. The red huntress closed her eyes expectantly. "Come... let me show you" Cinder chuckled.

Raven felt a tongue in her mouth-

Then suddenly nothing.

She opened her eyes and found herself sat in an alleyway. She tried to move, but her body didn't respond. Crowds of people walked down the streets at either end of the alley, they laughed and joked.

Raven watched on in confusion as the she stood-

She was shorter than normal.

She walked out into the street and stared into a shop window. A reflection stared back - a young girl with short dark hair and dull amber eyes. She looked thin, pale and hungry.

Then Raven realised what she was experiencing - Cinder's memories.

A man ran down the street and pushed past the young Cinder, forcing her to the ground. 

It hurt.

The young girl sat on the floor. "What's the point...?" she mumbled. Cinder was alone in the world, both her parents were long dead. She had lived on the streets for years now, barely surviving off of scraps she found in bins. The thought of carrying on... it was worse than the thought of dying.

"Hey! You OK?" a young male young asked.

Cinder looked up. A young cat faunus with black hair stood over her. He held his hand out and smiled at her. "Come on, the tournament is about to start! You don't wanna miss it!". 

"JOHN! COME ON!" an angry voice screamed out in the distance.

The cat's ears twitched as voices called. His tail swung playfully.

Cinder slowly reached out for his hand-

It was warm. It was the first human, well faunus in this case, contact she'd had in years. It was nice.

The cat helped her to her feet and tore off a chunk of bread. "Here" he handed it to her.

The dark haired girl devoured it in one mouthful-

She felt a tugging on her hand. The young cat lead her through the crowds and to the city centre. A large screen displayed live footage of the fight in the arena - the Vtyal Festival was in full swing.

Cinder stared at it in awe. A blonde huntress with a spear fought against a very strong looking man with an axe.

"Come on, there's no way Dian would lose! Look at the size of him!" a man in the crowd laughed.

"Oh? You want to make that a bet?" another man chuckled.

The crowd started to roar amongst itself as people place bets and screamed for their combatant to win.

"It's not too loud, is it?" the cat whispered in Cinder's ear.

She shook her head. Her eyes remained fixed on the screen-

Suddenly the crowd fell silent.

The blonde huntress had impaled the axe wielder and kicked him out of the arena. In a moment she had turned the battle on its head and won.