Chapter 1
Cinder Fall hated a lot of things. Correction, these days she hated almost everything. The damnable cold Mantle’s weather usually was at this time of year, the stupid upbeat song being played at the supermarket’s radio, the instant noodles and the cheapest whiskey in her bag, and last but not least her ruined life.
To think not even that long ago she was a rising star as the singer and leader of the metal band Midnight, in a relationship and had a future she was looking forward to. Until all of her hopes and dreams were shattered. Destroyed beyond repair by an accident, by the stupidity of another girl.
Cinder could recall the moments before the crash vividly, they were burned into her memory by the same flames that scorched and disfigured her whole left side and robbed her of her voice.
The Nikos girl, the one actually responsible for the collision, didn’t survive. That she herself did despite the fire was nothing short of a miracle.
The recollection made Cinder growl in anger and bitterness, which turned into a coughing fit.
“Damn this body…” She muttered, the grip of her single hand on the handle of her crutch tightening.
If the loss of her voice, left eye, most of her left arm and the normal use of her leg wasn’t enough, the lingering chronic pain the burns left her with -even robbing her of peaceful rest of sleep on most nights- would have driven a normal person into madness by itself… but Cinder was not normal.
She had learned the concept of both emotional and physical pain far too early in her life. Being abandoned at an orphanage, then shunted from one abusive foster home to another. With a childhood like that came a level of pain tolerance and mental fortitude regular people rarely possessed.
Still, even she had a limit, and on bad days -like today- the pain was pushing it.
“My personal hell…” She scoffed, using her volatile emotions as fuel to move her aching, exhausted body along the streets. Her goal was to cover as much distance as possible towards her place before another flare-up would seize her body.
The one-room flat on the lowest floor of an old building in one of the poorest districts of Mantle was not something she would call ‘home’. She didn’t have one in a long time. At one point, Cinder dared to hope that might change with Winter, but that flicker of possibility was already extinguished, and it was her own fault.
Nonetheless, it was the one place she could afford these days, if barely… and probably not for long. She was lucky that the decreasing royalty fees of her songs kept her afloat until now.
Cinder had made sure her contract contained the necessary clauses and her dues were documented clearly -the result of another bitter lesson, this time from that asshole Rhodes, may he rot in the deepest pits of hell-, but Grimm Records wasted no time to find someone to replace her as the frontwoman of Midnight. And with a new ‘star’ came a brand new album, with songs she had nothing to do with.
Combined with the costs of her treatment and -unfinished- rehabilitation, the charges she was pressed against due to the accident, and her running away to start her life afresh far from everything left her quite short on money.
She cursed the court vultures for the N-th time, the bastards were hellbent on making her pay as much as possible, even accepting false charges as facts.
Cinder didn’t drink any alcohol that night -that only became a habit after moving to Mantle, to keep her mind off the pain since she couldn’t afford proper medication-, no matter what the tests allegedly proved. Plus it was her passenger, Pyrrha Nikos who suddenly grabbed at the steering wheel and yanked on it to avoid hitting a pedestrian, not her.
She could have, no, she would have stopped in time and everything would’ve been fine. Except the option to do so was taken from her by that damned idiot’s interference.
Cinder really shouldn’t have accepted to bring the girl with her, except Weiss -Winter’s little sister- had a crush on the redhead. Making Minischnee happy meant Winter would be as well, so she had agreed.
A costly decision indeed, considering all she had lost. The worst was, she couldn’t prove anything.
The pedestrian was the only other surviving witness, and they were still in a coma thanks to a flying piece of debris when her case was judged in the court. That left only Cinder’s written words -the assholes couldn’t even wait until she could actually talk again if barely, for fuck’s sake- against all the so-called evidence.
Of course she was found guilty, fined heavily, forced to sell most of her possessions since she didn’t have a lot of savings. Good equipment and material were costly, and no way in Remnant she would dress in the rags provided by her old crone of a boss. Salem was downright gleeful to wash her -and thus Grimm Records’- hands off her, tossing her aside like a tool that was no longer useful.
The truth was, her girlfriend could have paid for it all, the Schnee family was obscenely wealthy, even the scandal and imprisonment of ex-patriarch Jacques Schnee barely made a dent in their finances. Knowing Winter, she would have undoubtedly offered to do so, but Cinder couldn’t ask that of her.
The sisters were still dealing with the aftermath of their manipulative asshole of a father being finally out of the picture, and of their mother finally deciding to get help to deal with her alcohol addiction. Finally the Schnees could try to be a true family, and Cinder was not about to let Winter lose that chance at happiness, to give it all up for a crippled, useless girlfriend like herself.
Being the reason for the quarrels and shouting matches between the Schneesters -often just outside of her hospital room-, to be the wedge that could potentially separate them and ruin their chance at a happy ending?
With Weiss blaming and hating her for Pyrrha’s death, the supposed alcohol in her system at the time of the crash only made the situation worse.
No. Cinder couldn’t do that to Winter, her girlfriend deserved better than that. The only thing she could do -to stop being a burden on Winter’s shoulders- was to let her go.
Her decision made, Cinder left without a word the moment she could endure the pain well enough to get transported safely. It cost her cashing in one last favour from Emerald, her former manager, but it was done.
It’s not like it would be the first time Cinder would be all alone. She had dealt with loneliness and having nothing before. she would just have to do it again, simple as that… Even if she had felt her heart shattering to a thousand little pieces at the thought of Winter finding the note containing the lines ‘I’m sorry. Goodbye’.
Long story short, Cinder was completely alone without aid or support, and needed to find a new reliable source of income swiftly. Oh, and it would have to be a job a pathetic cripple with chronic pain like her could handle.
Needless to say, she couldn’t find anyone willing to hire her.
“Who am I kidding?! Of course no one wants to employ a cripple who can barely do a third of the job a normal person could at the same time!” She snarled in the hoarse voice she was left with, a far cry from the strong, melodious tone she was gifted with at birth.
Cinder shook her head, her sigh heavy with bitterness.
Luckily her hood had stayed in place… not that anyone would recognize the former singer of Midnight in these shoddy clothes, the empty left sleeve of her tattered jacket moving with the wind.
Her once-glorious ashen hair was cut short and styled -if it could be called that- to cover the ruined left side of her face. Her cheeks were pale and gaunt from an unhealthy diet, the sole remaining golden eye dull and lined with dark circles from pain and exhaustion.
Cinder was less than a pitiful shadow of her former self. She could fume and boil inside in anger at the injustice of it all, but this was her reality and she was forced to accept it.
She was about to turn at the crossroads when the sudden surge of searing pain made her stumble. Leaning against the wall and breathing heavily, she waited until the intensity of the flare-up lessened enough to be able to move again.
“Woah, are you okay?”
The question made Cinder snap her head up. Kind strangers were pretty much unheard of in this part of the city, and she was in no state to handle anyone wanting to rob her or wishing her harm.
“Ugh, sure? Don’t waste your time on me, I’m fine.” Cinder replied with a low hiss, but the sound didn’t have any real bite. She was too worn out for that.
“Are you sure? You look really pale! How about this? Would you let me accompany you on your way to… wherever you’re going? Just to make sure you arrive there safely!”
Cinder narrowed her eye at the unfiltered kindness of the stranger: a teen wearing a burgundy jacket and a long red scarf with a matching beanie. Still, it was her silver eyes that gave her pause.
Salem, that old hag always harped about the natural talent of people with such eyes and how Grimm Records had to recruit them at all costs, but her tone gave Cinder the creeps even back then.
“Look, Little Red. I’m fine. So shoo, be on your way and I’ll be on my own.” Cinder snarked -far from her best nicknames, but it would do- and turned away. She couldn’t deal with this today.
Ignoring the teen from then on might have worked, if not for the pain returning with vengeance. Cinder couldn’t stop the groan escaping her lips as her leg buckled beneath her, the pavement rushing closer to get acquainted with her face.
Except, a pair of hands caught her, and she was propped against the closest wall with a care and gentleness she wasn’t used to.
“You are definitely not okay! J-just stay still, I’ll call my girlfriend! She’ll be able to get proper help!”
The girl was speaking at a speed Cinder could barely follow, but she was too exhausted to mind, or try to understand why the girl would show such kindness to a random stranger.
Her attention was pulled back to the present by the arrival of a sleek white sports car. She must have been lost in her head for minutes, if the girl’s frantic expression was anything to go by.
She found the vehicle familiar, but any attempt to remember why was forgotten the moment the driver got out of the car.
Long white hair still pulled into that asymmetric ponytail, icy blue eyes -though the thin scar across the left one was new to her-, and a petite body. There was no way Cinder wouldn’t recognize her: Weiss Schnee.
“Ruby, I know you want to help everyone, but surely calling an ambulance would have been a more logical choice. You know why we are here-”
“Bahh, spare her the lecture, Minischnee!” Cinder growled, though she had no idea where the urge to defend Little Red came from. Maybe her earlier recollections had riled her up more than she thought.
Oh well, her one good deed for the year was fulfilled. Cheers.
Cinder laughed at the outraged face Weiss made at the despised nickname she had turned to face her. Watching as those blue eyes grew comically wide when recognition hit was even more hilarious, but her mirth was cut short as the pain consumed her again.
She couldn’t hold out this time. The last thing she saw was Weiss’ expression morphing to one of shock -and of something else Cinder couldn’t decipher right then- before darkness finally claimed her.