Burning Rose (A Cinder Fall Story)

Chapter 1

Author's Note:
Hello everyone! This is my new book about Cinder Fall! I hope you all enjoy this first part, and please vote or leave a comment if you enjoy it! Thank you all for the support as always. I greatly appreciate it!

—XSummerRoseX

...Fifteen years had passed.

I spent my time trying to change my appearance and reflecting on my past choices after returning to the kingdom of Vacuo. I didn't have much of a plan. But I would figure something out.

As I was walking alongside the various stores and the like, I passed by a local dust shop. It had been there for as long as I could remember. And it was a pretty quiet place.

But not today. I saw a man with red hair and a fancy-looking hat hold up a pistol towards the cashier. I crept a little closer to get a better look.

"Please! I don't want any trouble!" the elderly cashier cried.

The man with the fancy hat smiled coldly.
"Then I suggest you hand over all your cash and dust! We don't need to make this a bigger deal than it is, buddy."

The cashier looked defeated as he started to hand over all of the cash in his cash register. There were five other men dressed in back around him too, collecting all the dust within the store. After about fifteen minutes or so, they stopped and started to walk out the place.

I quickly found somewhere to hide and watched silently.

"Roman, sir, where should we keep all this dust and cash?" a man with a black business suit and sunglasses asked.

The man with the hat, Roman, pulled out a cigar and lit it up with a lighter.

"Just place it in my safe for now," he told him. "We're going to need all the Lien we can get to escape this rotten place..."

I slowly stepped out of the shadows.

"Excuse me, sir," I said. "I heard you needed some help escaping Vacuo. I might be of assistance."

Roman glared at me. "Look lady, I don't need help. I got all I need right here!"

He gestured to the men who were holding cases of Lien and dust.

I simply smiled and slowly brought out my own cases I had been carrying with me since this morning. I had robbed a bank a few days ago during the night. And managed to collect a fair amount of Lien. I needed to hire new recruits for my cause. And now seemed like a perfect opportunity...

I slowly opened the cases.
"In here is about eight hundred thousand Lien. With it, we can escape the kingdom of thieves and head elsewhere. If you decide to join my cause, then you'll get even more. I'll make you millions, Roman. What do you say?"

Roman squinted his eyes and took a puff of his cigar.
"Seems a bit far fetched. How do you plan on making millions? I don't see how you can—"

I quickly used my magic to freeze his men one at a time. Roman looked around, completely shocked.

"That is how," I told him. "You can achieve anything you want. If people fear you enough..."

Roman glared at me. "What if I choose not to accept your offer?"

I summoned a ball of fire.
"Then I'll have no choice but to take your life. You've seen too much already."

Roman's cigar fell out of his mouth as his eyes went wide. He held up his hand in surrender.

"Alright alright. I'll join you in your cause. Just make sure that we're rich doing it."

"Excellent," I smiled. "Why don't you take me to your place so we can make the preparations? No funny business. Understand?"

Roman sighed and nodded, starting to walk on ahead.

I allowed him to walk a little further. I looked back to the men that were frozen. I slowly levitated from the ground and summoned fire. I watched the fire engulfed them all.

"Just in case," I whispered, landing back to my feet quickly. I pulled out my scroll as I caught up with Roman. I had only one contact I could call to get us out of here...

After a bit, I looked up from my scroll to see that we were standing near a group of unoccupied apartments.

"How long have these been abandoned?" I asked.

"Eh, ten years or so?" Roman replied, walking up to the nearest door and opening it. "Figured it'd be the perfect place to lay low."

I nodded and walked inside, getting a better look at the place. It looked like nothing was working. Dust was everywhere, and all the lights were broken, or burned out.

"Now, how do you plan on getting us out of here?" Roman asked me.

I simply smiled and typed in a number. After a few rings, I finally heard a voice on the other end.

"Ah, hello Summ— I mean, Cinder," Watts said. "Have you found someone?"

"I think so. It was easy enough. We'll need some transportation, though."

I heard Watts laugh on the other end. "You know how much that's going to cost you? I don't do favors unless I get paid back."

"Oh, don't you worry," I told him. "I think I have plenty to share. When can we expect the airship to get here?"

"As soon as you transfer the Lien," Watts replied. "I'll need to blackmail or bribe someone to get it, but that should be easy."

"Understood," I said, shutting off my scroll.

"What was that all about?" Roman asked, looking at me.

"I was just chatting with...an associate of mine. We'll get transportation soon. But we'll need to take care of some things first at the bank."

I grabbed my cases and began to walk towards the door, but Roman blocked my path.

"Whoa lady. Where do you think you're going with that cash! You can't just offer it and leave!"

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" I snapped. "We'll have other opportunities to gain it back. And it won't take all of it to get transported out of here. Either you can join me, or face a darker fate!"

I summoned fire and watched as it danced on my palm. Smiling at Roman's terrified face.

"Fine," he said. "Let's go to the damn bank. But first, I'll need to know who I'm working with."

I closed my palm, making the fire extinguish.

"...Sounds like you and I will be great partners, Roman Torchwick," I said, walking out the door and towards the bank. "You can call me Cinder. Cinder Fall."