//------------------------------//
// Cinders Of The Past 
// Story: T. R. Q. S RWBY Next Generation Vol 1 
// by foxmaster 
//------------------------------//

The sun began to rise and the rays of the sun beamed into Team TRQS’s Room. Sylvia was the first to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go. Turquoise and the others were still asleep. Sylvia pulled out the picture Aster left for her and looked at the back which had the numbers 5 4 7 5 15 6 7 1 12 5 6 15 18 5 19 20. Sylvia placed the photo on the desk face-down and pulled out a piece of paper along with a pencil.

“ Time to decipher this code,” Sylvia said quietly as to not wake the others. After many tries with many different methods, none of them worked which made Sylvia accidentally hit Turquoise with one of her balled up papers. Turquoise suddenly woke up and looked at Sylvia with a look indicating she was not fully awake. “ Sorry about that Turquoise. Turquoise walked out of the room without saying anything and later came back holding a cup of coffee with a milk bone in it. Sylvia looked at her like something was wrong.

“ Why are you looking at me like that?” Turquoise asked.

“ What is that?” Sylvia asked.

“ It's coffee haven't you seen it before?” Turquoise asked.

“ Not the coffee. That milk bone in your coffee,” Sylvia said.

“ This just happens to be one of my favorite treats,” Turquoise said.

“ You do know those things are for dogs right?” Sylvia asked.

“ So,” Turquoise said while wagging her tail emphasizing the fact that she is a Faunus.

“ Right almost forgot wolves are like dogs,” Sylvia said.

“ Anyway what are you doing that has you so upset?” Turquoise asked.

“ It's this code Aster wrote on the back of this picture he left me. It has me baffled. I tried coordinates but these numbers lead all over the place. I tried many other things but nothing worked,” Sylvia said.

“ Let me take a look at it,” Turquoise said.

“ Knock yourself out,” Sylvia said before giving Turquoise the picture. After looking at it Turquoise was actually surprised to see Sylvia not know this.

“ It’s so obvious. Sylvia these numbers are not referring to a place. They are spelling something,” Turquoise said.

“ What do you mean?” Sylvia asked.

“ These numbers are referring to the alphabet. For example, the numbers 5 4 7 5 spells the word edge,” Turquoise said as she wrote the alphabet along with the corresponding number the letters are placed at.

“ How did you figure it out so easily?” Sylvia asked.

“ We learned about alternative forms of relaying information back in Combat School. My friends from back home and I would use this exact system to meet up away from the eyes of the grown-up,” Turquoise said.

“ In any case let's decipher the rest,” Sylvia said. After nearly ten minutes of looking at the cheat sheet, Turquoise drew up Sylvia figured out the numbers spelled the words Edge of Gale Forest.

“ Looks like our next stop is the Gale Forest in Mistral,” Turquoise said before the others woke up. Sometime later Turquoise and her team was at a cafe in Vale discussing their plans for Mistral.

“ So where is this Gale Forest anyway?” Rainbow asked before Turquoise pulled out a map of Mistral.

“ It's right around here,” Turquoise said, pointing to a forest north of the city of Wind Path.

“ Where did you get this map from?” Sapphire asked.

“ Scarlet Scarlatina drew it for me. That semblance of hers may not be good in combat but it is useful for map making,” Turquoise said. As soon as the girls finished discussing their plans they left for the ports to leave for Anima. As soon as they got there they ran into Weiss who was busy supervising a shipment of dust being unloaded.

“ Where are you girls off to?” Weiss asked.

“ To Mistral to find what could have been Sylvia’s old home,” Turquoise said.

“ Do you girls even know where to start looking?” Weiss asked hoping they thought things through first.

“ We do thanks to this clue Aster Scorch left for me,” Sylvia said while showing her the photo and the deciphered code on the back.

“ Just promise me you four will be careful,” Weiss said.

“ We promise,” Turquoise said before she and her team boarded their ship to Anima.

“ So long Turquoise,” The men who were still unloading the dust said which caught Weiss’s attention.

“ No hitting on my daughter you guys she is too young for any of you,” Weiss said before telling them to get back to work.





Sometime later the girls arrived in Anima safely and made it to Mistral. As soon as they arrived in the city the girls noticed a wanted poster for Raven Winchester.

“ Her again?” Turquoise said furiously.

“ Calm down Turquoise she can’t harm you,” Sapphire said.

“ Remember why we came here,” Sylvia said, which calmed Turquoise down.

“ Your right we came to find out who your real parents were not to go on a bounty hunt,” Turquoise said. As they were walking through the city people were looking at Turquoise and Rainbow like they were doing something wrong.

“ Are those two stupid?” A woman passing by said.

“ Yeah, they should no better than to walk around in public like that?” Another woman said.

“ They know they should cover-up,” A man said.

“ Ok, what is everyone’s problem?” Rainbow demanded in an annoyed tone before a woman wearing a fur robe with a hood came up to them and motioned for them to come inside her home. As soon as the door was closed the woman lowered her hood revealing she was a fox Faunus with orange hair and orange fox ears.

“ You folks aren't from around here are you?” The woman asked.

“ We came from Vale on a personal mission,” Turquoise said.

“ Well I suggest you turn back now before you die,” The woman said.

“ And why should we turn back?” Rainbow asked in an angry tone.

“ Calm down, that was not a threat. Listen, lately, there have been murders occurring in the streets of Mistral. The victims were all Faunus. Most of them were female and had wolf characteristics so please turn back before all of you die,” The woman pleaded.

“ But Sapphire and I are human. Why would we be in any danger if this killer’s target is Faunus?” Sylvia asked.

“ Because whoever they are doesn't just kill Faunus they also kill those acquainted with them,” The woman said.

“ Listen, we are huntresses in training. We may not be real huntresses yet but we can handle whoever this killer is,” Rainbow said.

“ Fine if you insist on continuing on this mission of yours then at least hide your tail and wings so no one recognizes you,” The woman said.

“ Very well where can we find a clothing store around here?” Sapphire asked.

“ I have some spare robes you can use. Wait here,” The woman said before going upstairs and later coming down with two orange robes with white fur and fox ears on the hood. After binding her Wings Rainbow slipped the robe on and Turquoise did the same after wrapping her tail around her waist. The girls left for the Wind Path after that strange turn of events. Meanwhile, in a nearby alleyway, another murder occurred and the one standing over the corpse was none other than Raven Winchester who after hearing the commotion took her latest victim's belongings and tailed Turquoise and her team. As soon as the girls arrived in front of Wind Path Turquoise sensed someone following them.

“ Whoever is back there show yourself,” Turquoise demanded before Raven stepped out from behind a tree.

“ How long have you known I been following you four?” Raven asked.

“ Since we left Mistral but we acted like nothing happened because if we had to fight we wanted to get as far away from the civilians as possible,” Turquoise said.

“ So there is no one here but us five and we have you outnumbered,” Rainbow said.

“ Did you already forget about my semblance? No matter who I fight I will always have the advantage in numbers,” Raven said as she used her Semblance to make ten of herself in a circle with her weapon which was a halberd that folded into a submachine gun. As Raven and her clones were shooting at them Turquoise stabbed one of her swords into the ground and erected a barrier of Arklight Dust that not only blocked the bullets it also repelled Raven and her Clones by expanding.

“ Impossible, how were you able to do that?” Raven asked in disbelief that she lost.

“ Months of practice and studying which is something you don’t have since you have been officially expelled from Beacon,” Turquoise said before trapping Raven in ice which alerted two police officers who were coming from Wind Path.

“ What’s going on here?” One of the police officers asked.

“ We just captured Raven Winchester,” Rainbow said while pointing to Raven who was stuck in a chunk of ice.

“ Good work kids now just leave the rest to us,” The other officer said as he slapped the cuffs on Raven after Turquoise retracted the ice.

“ What are you going to do to her?” Turquoise asked.

“ Well kids this girl committed over fifty counts of murder and many counts of theft so she will be transferred to the Vale Prison where she will be rotting for the rest of her life,” The same officer said. Raven tried to use her semblance only to be electrocuted by the cuffs she was wearing.

“ We forgot to mention that those cuffs are the latest in Atlas Technology. not only do they neutralize a person’s semblance; they also deliver a nasty shock if the one wearing them uses their aura. Not even Nora Valkyrie can break out of them,” The other officer said before hauling Raven off to the station for processing. As soon as the whole Raven issue was dealt with the girls asked around for directions to the Gale Forest. They were directed towards the northern entrance leading to a dense forest. The girls walked through what felt like miles of forest full of Grimm. As soon as they made it to the other side they arrived in front of an old house with an old water wheel hooked up to a strange device with gears and two giant copper disks.

“ What the heck is that thing?” Rainbow asked.

“ My guess A HydroElectric Power Plant,” Turquoise said.

“ What makes you say that?” Sapphire asked.

“ Judging by this water wheel we can assume there used to be a river here,” Turquoise said referring to the dried-up gulch that was blocked off by a bunch of fallen logs. Rainbow flew above to get a look at what was on the other side and then landed.

“ There is a huge abundance of water behind those logs,” Rainbow said. Before the girls began investigating they first needed to restore the power for the house. Turquoise prepared her bow and loaded an ice arrow.

“ Ok girls here is the plan. I’m going to freeze the logs with an ice arrow and Rainbow will place a burn crystal on the ice. Sapphire when I give the signal shoot the Burn Crystal so we can blow up the dam,” Turquoise said.

“ Are you sure this is legal?” Sapphire asked.

“ Relax, no one owns the water,” Rainbow said. Turquoise fired her arrow and despite some wind resistance managed to nail the right spot to freeze only the logs. Rainbow flew up to the ice and then thawed the ice with the burn crystal to put it in place. As soon as Rainbow was out of the way Sapphire fired her pistol and after nailing the burn crystal the dam exploded and the water burst through and caused the water wheel to spin again thus restoring power to the old house. With the power now restored the investigation began. As soon as the girls went inside they saw a ton of dust and cobwebs which did not surprise them.

“ This place is filthy,” Sapphire said.

“ Of course it's filthy no one has lived here in sixteen years,” Turquoise said while looking around. As they were looking around Sylvia came across an old picture and wiped off the dust revealing a woman with black hair wearing a red dress with yellow patterns on it along with a big strong man with white hair both holding a baby. Sylvia was still not convinced until Sapphire found something.

“ Hey girls I think you all should see this,” Sapphire said prompting everyone to find her. They all gathered in front of a door with a sign that had Sylvia’s name on it. After opening the door it revealed what looked like a nursery. The girls looked around and something shiny on the dresser drew Sylvia’s attention. It was revealed to be a locket with her initials on the back. After opening it inside were pictures of both the man and woman from the photo in the living room. Sylvia decided to hang on to it before they continued investigating. As they were investigating Turquoise found a pair of graves behind the house.

“ GIRLS COME QUICK,” Turquoise shouted.

“ What is it Turquoise you sound like you saw a ghost,” Sapphire said.

“ You're not far off,” Turquoise said while showing them the graves. One had a pair of rusty blades stabbed on both sides with the name Cinder Quartz written on it along with the year she was born and the year she died. The other had a rusty halberd stuck into the ground behind the grave with the name Stone Quartz written on it along with the year he was born and the same year as Cinder when he died.

“ Well, that proves it. Cinder Fall was my real mother,” Sylvia said.

“ But how were they killed?” Rainbow asked.

“ I believe I can explain that,” A black woman with green hair and red eyes wearing a white jacket over a green dress.

“ And you are?” Rainbow asked.

“ I’m Emerald Sustrai, a friend of Cinder and Stone’s,” Emerald said.

“ Why are you here and how did you find us?” Sylvia asked.

“ I've been following you since you entered the forest and as to why I'm here I always come here to pay my respects to them,” Emerald said.

“ And now for the million lien question. How did Cinder and stone die?” Sylvia asked.

“ After we managed to break free from Salem’s control we went into hiding. Cinder and stone decided to get married and had you, Sylvia. I never thought I would see Cinder look so happy in all of my life. Unfortunately, that happiness was short lived when that bounty hunter Deadeye Bonz took their lives,” Emerald said.

“ Are you talking about the bounty hunter Aster Scorch killed along with himself,” Sylvia asked?

“ The very same,” Emerald said.

“ Wait, if this guy was so powerful why didn't Cinder and Stone use their semblance to fight back?” Turquoise asked.

“ Oh they tried all right but deadeye’s semblance allows him to shut down a person’s aura and he even channels that power through his weapon,” Emerald said.

“ But why give me up instead of letting me die with them?” Sylvia asked.

“ Cinder and Stone loved you with all of their heart and wanted you to live on for them. Look behind Cinder’s picture there should be an inscription there that will prove it,” Emerald said. Sylvia removed Cinder’s picture and saw the inscription which read “ The flames of our love will never burn out our little Sylvia,” After putting the picture back in Sylvia began to cry tears of joy after finding out who her real parents were.

“ Let’s head back to Beacon before Professor Oscar gets worried,” Turquoise said before she and her team left.