With Every Step Forward (Neglected/Abused Boosted Gear Reader x RWBY)

Chapter 31: The Next Step Forward

In a bleak land, there are puddles of black etched into the ground. Purple crystals dot the landscape. The sun doesn't come here. Creatures of Grimm rise from the puddles. It truly is a bleak place.

Emerald and Mercury watch from a distance as Grimm are born from the puddles. They, along with fours others, are in what seems to be a meeting room. The four consists of three men and a woman. The woman snaps her fingers to call them to her.

One of the men, a man dressed sharply and with a mustache, speaks.

Sharp-Dressed Man: "Yes, yes, keep your... posse... in check."

Mercury gets angry, but Emerald holds him back. The woman is revealed to be none other than Cinder. Since her fight with Y/N, she had been heavily injured, but has mostly recovered.

Sharp-Dressed Man: "Hear that? Silence. I've half the mind to thank the boy that bested you."

One of the other men, a lean man who seems a bit mentally unstable, speaks up after his colleague.

Unstable Man: "If I were you, I'd hunt him down, find him, and... well, he took YOUR eye, didn't he?" He starts laughing maniacally at his own suggestion.

Cinder tries to speak, but talking very loud is still a struggle for her. She turns to Emerald and whispers in her ear.

Sharp-Dressed Man: "Pathetic, why did you even-"

He's interrupted by the door to the room opening. They all stand to welcome a women with white skin dressed in black. She goes to the back of the room.

Mysterious Woman: "Watts." The sharply dressed man turns to her. "Do you find such malignancy necessary?" She gestures for them to be seated. They all do, with the exception of the man named Watts.

Watts: "I apologize ma'am. I'm not particularly fond of failure." He sits.

Mysterious Woman: "Then I see no reason for your cruelty towards young Cinder. She's become our Fall Maiden, destroyed Beacon Tower, and mostly importantly... killed dear Ozpin. So I'm curious. To what 'failures' are you referring?"

Watts: "Well... the Red Dragon. And the girl with silver eyes that froze the Grimm Dragon."

The final man, a large burly man with mutton chops finally speaks up. He seems the most solitary of the bunch.

Large Man: "Yes... He's going to be a problem. As for the girl, we've dealt with her kind before... How is it a novice was able to freeze such a powerful creature?"

Watts: "My thoughts exactly. But as for the Red Dragon, how was he able to defeat a Maiden? He was nearly dead. Loke saw to that."

Mysterious Woman: "It is because the Red Dragon is much stronger than any of the Maidens. Make no mistake Cinder. You hold a key to our victory. But your newfound strength is no match for that abomination... which is why you will remain by my side as we continue your treatment." Cinder seems angry at this. "Dr. Watts. You are to to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral."

Watts: "Very good."

Mysterious Woman: "Tyrian, I want you to continue your hunt for the Spring Maiden." The mentally unstable man looks up at her.

Tyrian: "Gladly." He starts laughing at this source of "fun".

Mysterious Woman: "And Hazel... I'm sending you to the leader of the White Fang." The last man in the room looks up. "Adam Taurus has arranged the meeting. The boy continues to prove loyal. Ensure that Sienna Khan feels the same."