When Cinder Fall deigns to rescue Roman from his botched Dust Shop theft, she briefly duels one Glynda Goodwitch to escape. Something stirs within Cinder then, a yearning, for the first time, towards something other than power. It's because of that feeling that she and her 'Team' travel to Beacon Academy a semester early, chasing that which Cinder can't help wanting to understand.

Jaune can't quite understand the raw suffering that comes through the link to his Soulmate, and yet, he finds he wants to help them, regardless. To Cinder, the tiny light in her soul is the only thing that's really hers, and above all else, she hopes that one day, she'll meet whoever they are. Or; In a Remnant where Soulmates share one another's pain, Jaune is linked to Cinder.

When Minato gives up his chance at becoming the Hokage to spend more time with his family, the title is instead given to the Third's brightest student, Orochimaru. Now, having earned the prestige he's long since sought after, Orochimaru finds himself more and more torn between his search for immortality, and his new duties as the Hokage as his past crimes begin catching up to him.