RWBY Through Worlds

197: Support Is Gone

"There was some kind of fight here?" Wally said.

"It doesn't look like one of just Grimm," Shine said in a tone of dread. "Those are the marks of human weapons and dust, I'd say. This is some kind of den, just like the Hydra had. This means the Mind Grimm is near. No!"

She backed up from it.

Cinder had never seen Shine scared before.

She would have expected to enjoy it, the look of fear on that cocky woman's face.

Instead it made her feel sick, because it wasn't because of her, and anything that scared someone who was not even afraid of Salem, well, that scared Cinder.

"Shine, calm down." Wally grabbed her shoulders and rubbed her arms comfortingly. "It could have moved away from here. We don't know that we're that close to it."

"This was no accident. Salem led us to it on purpose." Shine's perception was still on point even if she was afraid. "She intends to use the Grimm as a trap, same as the others, and to keep us from being able to run from it like we did with the Deimos. The others will be caught also--they're too close to us. There's always some sound it starts to make. Do you hear anything?"

"I don't hear anything," Wally said. "It can't be that close. Just breathe, honey."

"What is wrong with her?" Cinder asked finally. "I've seen her face down things that most people are terrified of and not bat an eyelash."

Wally covered Shine's ears. "Just focus on something else," he said.

Then to Cinder he said rather crossly, "Everyone's afraid of something, Cinder, and you don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't understand," Cinder said. "She has never been affected by the Mind Grimm like us. Why would it scare her?"

"Cindy, you don't know people that well," Wally said, more sadly this time than angrily. "Shine is pretty much immune to mind tricks. But this last one is something even she's not sure about, because it's a part of all of us. Not everyone is greedy, not everyone gives into gluttony, not everyone carries anger inside them, not everyone lets envy eat them up, not everyone even wants things just for the sake of having them. All the other 6 sins are a part of most people, but they can be rooted out with time, if you fight them. But pride is something that no one can ever completely get rid of. They have to try to keep it down, but it's a part of all of us, the original sin, and even Shine has it--she'd tell you much more than we think she does. So no matter how good we are and how hard we try, we're in danger from it. Me more so, I think, because my world has more mind tricks, but pride isn't just a trick, it's human nature. I've been over all this with her at home. One of the first things she teaches people is that pride is the source of all sins and so is fear. Both of them."

"She's afraid now," Cinder noted. "Because of pride?"

"Cinder, have you ever, even once in your life, been afraid of what you could do to someone if you became the worst version of yourself?" Wally was getting worked up because of her attitude and he was worried about Shine. "I know you like hurting people now, but even once, when you were younger and not crazy, did you ever feel bad that you hurt someone instead of happy?"

Cinder flashed to when she'd killed her mentor.

She'd been glad to get away then, and for years had told herself that's all she felt.

But there had been a brief moment when she'd shed tears and felt it had been a bad thing to do. She'd tried to forget for a long time, but Wally brought it back to her.

Maybe her expression changed, because Wally seemed to see it in her eyes.

"Well... then you know," he said. "Shine cares much more about that than you do. She talks a big game, but she hates hurting people and always has. I do too. I think that's why we connected so easily. You're really lucky too. If we didn't hate it so much, you'd probably be in more danger on this mission than you've been. The thing about trying to be good is you don't just like good, you learn to hate the evil, especially the evil in yourself. We try to hate it. So when it's this close to you, it's scary. But I think we can still resist it. There has to be a way. Shine?"