RWBY Through Worlds (End)

BC73: Washed (Saints)

[This will be the last preamble mini arc before the climactic part of this story. I know you're all getting impatient. And I would like to finish it soon. But we're not quite ready.]

After the party was over, Shine pitched her idea to Raven, who agreed to it surprisingly easily considering how she was anxious to get back on schedule.

Shine also told Cinder--not asked, told--that they'd be coming to her house for the night.

Cinder knew that meant Shine wanted to talk--but the idea of refusing didn't really cross her mind. She couldn't have. She would have expected fire to shoot out and consume her.

Of course nothing of the sort would have happened, but time had not really shaken Cinder's deep-seated belief that Shine and Wally were dangerous to mess with.

Wally felt bad for Cinder but wasn't sure he had much help to offer her. She trusted Shine more.

Shine told him he might be more help than he thought.

"Surely this is something your League has dealt with often enough for you to know how she might feel," she said.

"I've never actually killed anybody," Wally said.

"Neither have I," Shine said.

"I think you're better at putting yourself in their shoes though. Empathy is not my real gift," Wally said. "Maybe I could try, but if I mess it up, I could just make her feel worse."

"I could also, by forcing this conversation," Shine said.

Cinder let them into the apartment.

"It's cramped," she said.

"We had to sleep on the hard ground in the Ninja lands." Shine rubbed her shoulder. "This should be nothing."

"I'll put Grace to bed," Wally said.

"She's good about sleeping through the night usually," Shine said. "Except for feeding, and she doesn't put up too much of a fuss. Just like her dad."

"She doesn't have...super powers, right?" Cinder asked.

"You know, we've talked about that, but Wally's aren't hereditary, that we know of, and neither are mine," Shine said. "However, we do live in a world that allows for it, which could certainly affect her, being born there and all. I'm fine either way. Powers aren't important. But I hope if she gets some, they won't be the sort to give her a hard time her whole life. I try to help those people, but it would be hard to watch my own child suffer that way."

"Why does anyone have powers like that?" Cinder wondered. "Why would God allow it?"

"I think the same reason we have besetting sins. Nothing is perfect in this world. That gets into our superhuman ability as much as our human ones. So some turn out not so good. But it's not their fault. And you choose if you will be a good person or not." Shine could always moralize. "So..."

Cinder sat down on her counter, because why be normal and sit on a chair?

"I'm sure you already know what happened," she said. "And you have some lecture about it in mind. But I don't want to hear it."

"I'm insulted that you called it a lecture," Shine said. "A lecture would imply I had some fault to correct. But if you don't want to talk, fine... I thought I could help. We don't get so many chances in person anymore. I wanted to use it."

"Are you trying to use guilt to manipulate me?" Cinder asked.

"If you will use it on yourself, why can't I?" Shine replied.