Cinder Reporting In

Gray woke up to the soft glow of morning light filtering through the dorm window. His eyes felt slightly glued as he blinked away sleep. He yawned and had to move his head away from the blonde hair that went into his mouth.

His teammates were still nestled in their beds, the gentle rhythm of their breathing a soft morning rhythm. He glanced at the time, noting that it was almost the hour he would typically rise for classes, though today was free from academic responsibilities. He wondered if Yang had her alarm set even now on the weekend.

As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, Gray eyed the blinking notification light on his scroll. He flicked to the messages screen, his curiosity piqued by what might have arrived overnight.

Unknown numbers had been waiting, along with one from Cinder. Gray tapped the first unknown number and the most recent. What he saw was a sight that made his dick twitch and start to grow hard. There stood a woman with short black hair and cat ears. Fully naked in a bathroom. She had taken the picture with her mirror so he could see her in full. A mature woman with amazing curves. Her hips, thighs and tits looked incredible. So, this was Kali, huh?

He already had the most depraved thoughts about fucking her. And even some mother daughter moments too.

The next message was of Willow Schnee, and she was no less of a sexy mommy. This was a woman who had three children and it showed in her hips. She also seemed to keep herself in shape. Her stomach had a little bit to it but otherwise she was still a fuckable milf. Gray’s dick throbbed and he was tempted to start jerking it, but since he had so many girlfriends, he thought it best to save it for one of them.

Next, he read a message from the last unknown number. This one showed a face of a woman with messy black hair and red eyes. This one didn’t show her whole body or even in the nude. He had only asked for her to show her face. And Gray could see some resemblance. The messy hair was strikingly similar, and her face did have some of Yang’s features. Raven just seemed older. Still very good looking, but she did seem... colder? Cynical?

Okay, so he now had access to their numbers. He now tapped Cinders message.

Hopefully her report on Salem was ready. He had been awaiting her insights to the mysterious woman.

Gray stretched, the tension in his muscles easing as he prepared to delve into Cinder's report. With a deep breath, he opened the message, his mind focused and ready.

Ash: Master. This is my report.

As per your directive, I have compiled all relevant information on Salem based on my direct experiences, observations, and interactions. I have omitted nothing deemed useful, though certain details remain speculative due to the enigmatic nature of my employer. This report is structured for clarity. If further elaboration is required, I stand ready to provide it.

Subject: Salem - Encounter and Observations

Author: Ash

Initial Encounter:

My initial contact with Salem occurred approximately four years ago, during a period of... personal ambition in Mistral. I had recently escaped captivity and slavery with a place called The Glass Unicorn hotel. I lived on the streets as a petty criminal for a time, until I was approached by someone who I later found out was Salem’s agent. This agent offered me a job. A career in exchange for my loyalty to their employer. They offered power and I took it. They promised to have me meet this employer but wouldn’t say when.

Until it suddenly just happened one night. A Grimm construct, a Seer, a pale, floating abomination with a single eye, manifested in my hidden lair uninvited. It did not attack; instead, it conveyed Salem's voice, cold and seductive. She whispered promises of power and authority. I was enticed but I was also skeptical.

I tested her by demanding proof. The Seer then unleashed a swarm of lesser Grimm from the shadows, Beowolves and small Nevermores. Salem told me they would obey me and they did. That display sealed it. I pledged loyalty on the spot, drawn by the promise of unchecked power. Salem's agents extracted me from Mistral under cover of night, transporting me to her domain via a few unlisted airship rides. Since then, I have executed her directives without deviation, recruiting Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black as extensions of her will.

Appearance:

Salem defies easy description, Master. She appears human at a glance, tall, regal, with porcelain skin so pale it gleams like polished marble under torchlight. Her hair is bone-white, kept in an odd style that reminds me of a spider with a large main bun and six offshoots, three to each side, framing a face of sharp, aristocratic beauty: high cheekbones, full lips devoid of color like the rest of her, and eyes... her eyes burn like dark molten amber, glowing with an inner fire that shifts from warm honey to searing crimson when her temper stirs. Veins of dark red trace her neck, face and hands, pulsing faintly along with her eyes.

She dresses in flowing black robes embroidered with sinuous lines of red. Her voice is velvet over steel, smooth, commanding, and laced with something that makes you ache to obey. She moves with deliberate grace, never hurried, as if time bends to her whim. Laughter is rare from her, a low, resonant sound that chills rather than amuses. Anger manifests as a subtle frost in the air, her eyes flaring while the room's shadows lengthen and whisper.

In demeanour, she is patient to the point of cruelty, viewing mortals as fleeting tools in an eternal game. She speaks in riddles and parables, testing loyalty with veiled threats. Praise from her is a rare venomous honey, binding tighter than chains. Disappointment? It manifests as Grimm manifestations that devour the offender slowly. She is not impulsive like Adam Taurus, nor scheming like Torchwick—Salem is inevitable, a tide that drowns with infinite patience.

Power over the Grimm:

Salem's control over Grimm is absolute and unnerving, far beyond any Semblance or Dust construct I have witnessed. She does not "control" them as one might a hound; she births and shapes them, as if they are extensions of her corrupted soul. From what I have observed during summonings, she communes with an unseen void, whispering words I can’t understand, and Grimm emerge from pools of black ichor that seep from her domain's floors. Lesser breeds (Beowolves, Creepers) respond to her mere glance, swarming or dispersing on instinct. Larger ones she molds with deliberate ritual, infusing them with traits tailored to her needs.

The Seer Grimm, the pale, floating orbs with a single, unblinking eye, are her eyes and messengers, capable of phasing through walls and conveying her voice across continents. She has demonstrated creating hybrid abominations, such as the Beetle Grimm used on the Autumn Maiden, a parasitic conduit that siphons Aura and transfers power, leaving the victim hollowed. Are there limits to her power? None I have seen, save perhaps distance. Her direct influence wanes beyond her domain, relying on intermediaries like myself.

Residence and Domain:

Salem resides in an ancient citadel on a continent with no name, a shattered land adrift in the Grimm-infested seas to the northwest of the known map. It is a labyrinth of blackened spires and crumbling ruins, half-sunken into volcanic badlands where rivers of molten rock flow. The air reeks of sulfur and decay; perpetual twilight reigns, lit by bioluminescent fungi and the glow of geothermal vents. At the heart of that continent stands her castle. A place that looks older than any structure I’ve seen. In the fields outside lay pools of dark ichor, birthing Grimm from their depths and surrounding her seat of power.

The surrounding waters teem with sea Grimm (Kraken-like horrors, tentacled leviathans) that drag intruders under. The continent's perimeter is ringed by perpetual storms. Within her castle, corridors seem like mazes with false paths that lead to nests of Apathy Grimm that drain the will to fight.

The land's toxic air is hard to breathe over prolonged exposure. Grimm roam freely, unbound unless commanded, and there are human subordinates that patrol, though I suspect they are less than human at this point. Betrayal invites not ****, but transformation: disloyal souls are fed to the ichor pools, reborn as twisted Grimm thralls. Navigation requires her summons; straying invites consumption. I have visited thrice; each departure leaves me weakened, as if she siphons a sliver of my essence.

Motivations and Plans:

Salem's ultimate aim, as she has confided in fragments, is the annihilation of humanity, or its subjugation under her eternal rule. She seeks the four Relics, artifacts that she hasn’t told me the origins of. I was simply assured they would be the key to her goals.

She has a deep hatred for humanity and Ozpin. I never learned the reason for it, and I doubt she would have ever told me. She may have given me power, but I suspect she only sees me as a tool. She sought to make me a Maiden, a pawn in her grand scheme to unlock the vault in Vale and claim the Relic within. Her plans extend beyond Vale; she intends to find and control the other Maidens, either by taking their power herself or using her agents to achieve her goals.

Her current plans center on Vale and Beacon. She has given me much freedom on how to go about it, but I suspect she keeps tabs on me with her other agents.

This is all I possess, Master. Salem reveals sparingly.

End of Report

Gray lay in Yang’s bed in the quiet of the dorm room, the soft breathing of the girls barely registering as he read through Cinder's report multiple times.

Each word, each new detail, brought a disquieting feeling to Gray. He learned quite a few things with this report, but he wasn’t sure if he was any closer to understanding things. In fact, he was pretty sure he had more questions now.

The report did give him some good things to work with though. Firstly, Salem resided on the nameless continent to the northwest, a landmass shaped like a dark dragon, untamed and uncolonized by humanity. The mere thought of her domain sent a chill down Gray's spine. The image of a castle overlooking a pool of dark water, from which Grimm emerged, certainly fit the idea of this Grimm woman.

Secondly, Salem possessed a form of magic that was separate from Aura and Semblances, something that allowed her to control and create Grimm. Gray might need to consult with Ozpin, to ask about this weird power.

The report also highlighted Salem's extensive network of agents, a web of influence that stretched across the world. Gray might even encounter these agents if he met with Cinder in person more often.

Perhaps most concerning was Salem's ability to create new types of Grimm, a power that had already been demonstrated in the creature Cinder used to drain the Maiden powers from Amber. This detail reminded him of the lesson he had with Professor Blewett about Grimm now manifesting resistances and weaknesses to certain Dust elements. What could Salem be planning with those?

Gray looked up in contemplative silence. How was she convincing people to turn to her side? What promises did she make, and what lies did she spin to ensnare them in her dark designs?

He wondered if her agents were aware of her ultimate goal, the destruction of humanity. If they knew, what assurances had she given them to secure their loyalty? Did she promise them power in a new world order, playing on their greed and desperation? Or were they kept in the dark, unaware that their allegiance was sealing their own fate?

Cinder's report suggested that she was unaware of Salem's true intentions, her actions driven by a desire for power and a misguided sense of loyalty.

It was all so...

Actually, it was kind of overly dramatic if he thought about it.

A Queen of the Grimm with a castle in a desolate wasteland, bent on the destruction of humanity.

Hadn’t he seen kids’ cartoons with similar plots growing up?

Honestly. This all just seemed so ridiculous.

Gray lay there and just let the morning drift by as the dire thoughts passed him by. The girls weren’t stirring yet and he didn’t expect them to. It was a Sunday and he didn’t think Yang had kept her alarm set.

So, he just dozed and ruminated.

After a while, a persistent thought came to mind.

“...I still haven’t come up with a name.” He muttered.

He was referring to his Semblance. Earlier in the week he had tried to come up with a name for the strange power but came up empty. He reasoned that his power made everything he did normal, but how could you give it a name based on that? That didn’t exactly inspire a cool name for it.

Gray brought his scroll up and idly tapped into the internet search bar. He wasn’t sure where to start so he just asked for words like normal and words similar to it. He got things like “typical” or “standard” or “expected”. He saw some variations like “normalize” or “normalcy” or “normality”.

Could he do something with any of these?

He had the power of... Normalizing things?

He huffed in amusement. It really did sound weak and dumb.

He made everything he did... Standard Practice?

No that really did sound dumb.

Normality maybe? The power of Normality?

Gray thought it through.

He didn’t quite hate that one.

What about Normalcy? Normality versus Normalcy?

Which one sounded cooler? Minutes ticked by and he couldn’t decide, so he shelved that thought and decided to get up. The meeting with Adam and the White Fang leadership was today. It would happen tonight, so he had some time, but he wanted to do something before then.

Gray stood under the warm spray of the shower, the water cascading over him as he contemplated how to fill his time. He could use the gym to start off his day, then chase up one of the criminals under his thumb. Or he could ask Ozpin for more info.

As he dried off and got dressed, he turned his thoughts to Salem and the network of agents she had cultivated. How could he identify these agents? They could be anyone, hiding in plain sight.

Gray knew that he needed a way to sniff out these agents, to identify them before they could throw a wrench in his own plans. But what could he do? He only had his Semblance and his own network, including Cinder herself. He might have to talk with her to see if she knew any nearby agents.

But then he had an idea.

He could just command all of them to show themselves to him. Not all at once though. That would be overwhelming. But there was something he could do. A command that could work.

He thought about the words and settled on a command, a subtle use of his Semblance that would allow him to spot these agents without alerting them to his knowledge.

"Those that work for Salem will wear something obvious like a badge, hair clip, earring, bandana, or hat in the colors and/or symbol of Salem," He murmured to himself. "They will not know that they have done this, and other people will not notice the item denoting their allegiance. When in the presence of Salem, these agents will remove the item so that she doesn't see it."

With this command in place, Gray relaxed. This might make things easier for him and hopefully alert him if any agent got close. He’d know if it had worked if he went to see Cinder and her two followers. And, in case Salem wasn’t affected by his power, then hopefully she never saw her agents with these items.

As he finished getting ready, Gray turned his thoughts to the day ahead. He had some time to kill.

“... you’re up early...” Came the sleepy voice of Blake. She was looking over at him as he was getting dressed. Her eyes looked half lidded and like she was moments from falling back to sleep.

He had deactivated his Semblance after his shower since he didn’t feel a need to use it. He wasn’t going to be sneaking around until much later.

“Yeah, sorry if I woke you. I was feeling restless and needed to get up.” He spoke to her softly as he approached her side. “I think I’ll be heading to the gym this morning.”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn’t a heated kiss. Really just an affectionate smooch. He felt her smile beneath him. When he stood up again, she had a shy smile to go with her sleepy look.

“You girls can sleep in more if you want. Message me if you need me, okay?” He said. Blake nodded and made some sort of affirmative noise before her sleepy eyes closed on him.

With that short exchange, Gray filled his bag with his gym clothes and a couple towels and headed out the door. He shut it gently behind himself and turned to listen to the quiet hallway. There were some sounds of movement down one end. Maybe someone was just as restless as he was. He checked the time and figured it would be about time classes would start usually.

If it were him last year in his old school, he would likely not get up on a Saturday or Sunday until after midday. It was good to see that others were like his old self. He set out down the hall to the stairs, idly wondering if even the champion of JNPR slept in on days like this.

He walked down the stairs, through the lobby, and out into the outdoors. The air felt clean, and he took a moment to breathe in and out. There was just a hint of morning dew left in the air and on the lawn. Gray started walking to the school buildings and saw very few fellow students around. He figured most were just looking to get breakfast.

He wondered if breakfast on weekends went on longer just in case students slept in. If he went to the gym for an hour or so and came to the cafeteria, only to find that the breakfast spread was done, and they were prepping for lunch, he might be a little sad. There were some breakfast staples that felt like a crime to miss.

He reached the building that held the gym and made his way inside. He was wondering what he should focus on for this session. Legs or arms? Weights or cardio? He looked around at the sparsely populated machines, when he saw Team TCNO.

Ah. He should have known.

Tanner was always an early riser and pushed his friends to get up and workout.

Come to think of it, Gray hadn’t interacted with them much since joining Team RWBY. This could be a fun little way to kill time, as well as catch up with friends.

With his mind made up, Gray went to the locker room to change.

A/N: So, I lost track of time, what with being unemployed now. But here's another chapter. Not a very big one, or even groundbreaking, but that's because of the upcoming meeting. But also, with there being time between now and the meeting, I hope to have some sexy shenanigans to fill the space.

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