RWBY 3: Fall

Part 13 - Misery and Pain

Flashes of orange and green light filled the dark corridors of Beacon tower's basement. Each flash briefly illuminated the fighters - Cinder, using two blades licked with flames, and Ozpin, his sword cane glowing with green energy every time it clashed with the assailant's weapons.

Cinder hopped back and raised both blades up in a cross guard as she blocked Ozpin's attack. The headmaster pushed his blade closer, leaning towards the flames that now illuminated the attackers perfectly.

A smug grin stretched across the dark huntress's face.

"Arrogance?" Ozpin chuckled "You're displaying at lot of that right now yourself-". He leapt up and vaulted over her, causing her to stumbled forwards as her guard braced against nothing. In an instant he was behind her and slashed-

Cinder jumped forwards, stifling a scream as her opponent cut the skin on her back. She pivoted and the flames on her weapons roared-

Ozpin was already moving towards her. His body moved with incredible speed, leaving a slight green glow behind him-

*clang*

Once again their weapons hit and once again Cinder successfully blocked. She was getting impatient. As much as she enjoyed this battle she had to find Raven and take the remainder of the maiden's power before she escaped this tower. She also had a mission to complete-

She unleashed a flurry of slashes, spinning as she slashed and using the momentum to push Ozpin onto the defensive. Luckily for her, Ozpin only had one weapon - he couldn't block both of her swords at the same time. She slammed her left blade against his weapon hard and the flames illuminated further, temporarily blinding him to her follow up attack-

Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon, was an incredible fighter back in his day. He had fought Salem and her monstrosities and survived, something no one else in this world could claim. His semblance allowed him limited time control. Specifically, he could speed up his actions or healing, or slow down his heart-rate to avoid detection. Although his semblance could affect other people's bodies, it was something he had only tried once - with disastrous effect. While using it on himself he could easily adjust the flow of time and know when he was nearing his limit, but using it on another would almost certainly kill them.

With a burst of semblance time flowed ten times faster for Ozpin. Cinder seemed to freeze, her movements barely visible. Even the flames moved slowly, dancing beautifully in the darkness. The headmaster causally stepped back and out of range. He debated killing her for a moment, but he needed her alive - he needed to know what Salem was planning and where she was. He readied his weapon-

Blood begun to pour from his nose. As the blood drops fell from his body and into the air they also seemed to freeze, moving towards the ground with glacial speeds.

The headmaster knew he couldn't maintain this state for much longer and allowed time to flow normally again-

Cinder stumbled forwards and missed her swing. Confusion and rage covered her beautiful face and she leapt back, sheathing her weapons.

"Good, you seem to understand when you are out classed... " Ozpin smiled "Now, tell he where Salem is and what she's planning. What does she hope to gain from this att-"

But Ozpin had misunderstood the new Fall maiden's intentions. She was not surrendering. She held out her hand as she put some distance between them and flames erupted from the ground, glowing even brighter in the normal darkness of the corridor.

She twisted her body and screamed, using the maiden's power to summon elemental magic-

Shards of ice materialised over the line of flame and a slight gust of wind lifted up the skirt of her dress, making it dance. With a flick of her wrist the ice tore through the air and towards the headmaster-