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Affiliations
Cinder's Faction
Emerald is Cinder Fall's first known recruit. Cinder happens to notice Emerald use her Semblance to steal, and corners her in an alley while the police are giving chase. Cinder tempts Emerald to join her by promising that she will never go hungry again. It is also suggested in "Beginning of the End" that Cinder demonstrated a power Emerald had previously believed impossible, and thus kept her in line as a subordinate.
Haven Academy
Emerald poses as a student from Haven Academy during the entire semester at Beacon Academy leading up to the Vytal Festival.
Cinder's Faction
Cinder Fall
Emerald with Cinder and Mercury
Emerald appears to be under Cinder's direct command and obeys her orders without question. Emerald seems to have the utmost respect for Cinder and greatly values her approval, sometimes even addressing her as "ma'am" instead of by her name, and eagerly going out of her way to perform tasks for her.
In "Best Day Ever", she enthusiastically greets Cinder when she appears. Conversely, after being rebuked for acting impulsively, Emerald looked saddened and said that she would not do anything without her orders again.
"Beginning of the End" reveals that part of Emerald's loyalty to Cinder is due to being saved by her from living on the streets. Whatever affection toward Cinder she has in connection to this is not equally returned, as Cinder can be heard striking Emerald and reminding her to know her place when Emerald speaks out against recruiting Mercury Black.
After the Fall of Beacon, in "The Next Step", Emerald appears to worry about Cinder deeply, due to Cinder's injuries causing her to be unable to speak at an audible level, and Emerald ends up interpreting and relaying her speech to others.
In "The More the Merrier" Emerald reveals to Ruby her debt to Cinder and is willing to serve Salem for her master. In "Haven's Fate", Emerald breaks down in tears after realizing Cinder was defeated, causing her to scream in agony as she inadvertently activates her Semblance on everyone in her grief.
In "So That's How It Is", it is shown that without Cinder, Emerald has become vulnerable to fear of those of Salem's Inner Circle, especially Salem herself. She is later shocked to find that her master is still alive. In "Lost", she states that she thinks of Cinder as family, she taught her everything she doesn't know and she cares for her deeply. But when Mercury blatantly tells her that Cinder never cared for either of them, Emerald quickly denies his accusation.
As described in The World of RWBY: The Official Companion, Emerald sees Cinder's cause as a second chance for herself.
Mercury Black
Emerald and Mercury in the tournament
Mercury is Emerald's partner and the two share a close relationship. She appears to be mildly annoyed by Mercury's antics, but they are also shown lightheartedly joking with each other.
In the "Best Day Ever" after Mercury refuses a bribe he replays "You want me" implying a possible physical attraction between the two.
They take each other's side against Roman Torchwick, whom they both appear to hold a great deal of derision for. Emerald and Mercury work effectively as a team, accompanying each other on missions. They also coordinate with each other in battle, often with Emerald distracting the enemy with hallucinations and Mercury following up with surprise attacks.
The two briefly dance during the Beacon Dance while keeping an eye on the guests for Cinder in "Dance Dance Infiltration".
After Mercury's leg is seemingly broken by Yang Xiao Long in "Fall", Emerald rushes to his side and apparently shows great concern for his injury, though this was part of the act.
In "Beginning of the End" it is revealed that Emerald initially protested against Mercury's recruitment.
Upon the revelation that Cinder had failed to acquire the Relic of Knowledge and understanding the precariousness of their situation, Mercury attempted to coax Emerald into a tactical retreat as Emerald suffered an emotional breakdown. Merc and Hazel later on were seen fleeing with an unconscious Emerald into the woods. Following the attack on Haven Academy, Mercury comes to Emerald's defense when Tyrian Callows attempts to intimidate her, threatening Tyrian viciously.
In "Lost", Emerald gets angry at Mercury for speaking ill about Cinder and she never cared about either of them leading to Emerald attacking him and entering into a physical fist fight between the two of them,eventually leading to Mercury revealing much of his horrible background being raised by his abusive father,Greatly shocking and visibly startling her due to her partner's sheer vehemence and bitterness in his own circumstances who in Mercury's view was far worse then her own. In "Our Way", Emerald tries to apologize to Mercury only to stop when she sees Salem creating winged Beringels.
Roman Torchwick
As one of Cinder's subordinates, Emerald works with Roman, but appears to have little respect for him. She is repulsed at the thought of him "procreating" and the two pickpocket each other in mutual slights. Unlike her playfully hostile relationship with Mercury, Emerald appears to have a genuine dislike for Roman, who even goes as far as threatening them both.
Emerald also undercuts him with Cinder by boasting of how she and Mercury handled Tukson while Roman did nothing.
Emerald is the one who pretends to apprehend Roman before handing him over to the Atlesian authorities in "Breach."
Neopolitan
Emerald and Neopolitan participated together in the Vytal Festival Tournament as a team, along with Mercury and Cinder.
Salem's Inner Circle
Salem
While they have had little interaction, it is evident that Emerald is afraid of Salem, but is willing to accomplish Salem's goals under Cinder's direction. When interpreting for Cinder, in "The Next Step", she only speaks after Salem lets her, and nervously at that. In "Of Runaways and Stowaways", when Salem angrily orders Cinder to force out her own answer, Emerald stays silent.
In "The More the Merrier", Emerald tells Ruby that she does not care about Salem, but indicates that if Cinder's orders align with Salem's goals, she will follow them.
In "So That's How It Is", Emerald is forced by an intimidating Salem to pin the defeat at Haven on Cinder. Without her master, Emerald is openly fearful of Salem's wrath, especially during her meltdown upon learning of Ozpin's reincarnation. In "Our Way", Emerald is horrified as she watches Salem using her powers to created winged Beringels.
Tyrian Callows
The scorpion Faunus intimidates the thief.
In "So That's How It Is", Emerald does not get along at all with Tyrian due to how he mocks them over their failure at Haven as well as Cinder's supposed death. Although she threatens him when he mocks Cinder, she is far more afraid of him when he grimly warns her Cinder is no longer there to protect her. In "Lost", Emerald is disgusted with Tyrian after he mocks her and Mercury about the dilemma they are in.
Arthur Watts
Watts' exact relationship is unknown, but it was shown that it is one of mutual dislike/disdain, as seen where he seemed to greatly enjoy mocking Cinder and her team greatly and smugly/sarcastically called them her "Posse", earning the mutual dislike from both Emerald and Mercury.
Later Watts further reinforced his low opinion and disdain for Emerald by agreeing to Raven's snide comments and analysis that she was nothing but a child that was tricked into following Cinder, again earning the young thief's disdain.
Hazel Rainart
Without Cinder to lead them, Emerald and Mercury both stick close to Hazel after the three of them escape Haven. In turn, Hazel appears quite protective of them, especially Emerald, and the two seem to trust each other enough to work together.
In "So That's How It Is" a terrified Emerald admits that Cinder is responsible for their defeat at Haven Academy after Salem nearly kills Hazel for taking the blame of Salem's plan failure at Haven.
Team RWBY
Ruby Rose
Emerald is annoyed with Ruby.
The two first met when Ruby accidentally bumped into her while running to the library to retrieve her board game. Emerald helps the latter up after she fell. After some interaction with Cinder, Ruby then redirects Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder to their respective building.
In "Extracurricular", Emerald is seen putting on a friendly act around Ruby, smiling sweetly when she speaks to her, but scowling and rolling her eyes as soon as Ruby looks away.
After the battle in "Breach", Emerald briefly joins Ruby and the rest of her team in celebrating their victory.
In "Round One", it is revealed that Emerald has managed to forge what initially appears to be a strong friendship with Ruby and her team in the interim between the end of the second semester and the beginning of the Vytal Festival. They greet each other amiably and share a pleasant conversation, and Ruby even invites her and her team out to lunch.
However, once their backs are turned, she expresses her intense dislike for Ruby and her team to Mercury, claiming that she cannot stand their constantly positive attitude. Evidently, she only tolerates their presence due to being on a fact-finding mission from Cinder.
In "The More the Merrier", Emerald fights Ruby to prevent her from helping Jaune Arc. She easily fools Ruby with a hallucination of Cinder and later knocks her out to prevent her powers from harming Cinder. In "Haven's Fate", Emerald refuses to surrender to Ruby and her friends, as she is confident that Cinder will defeat all of them.
Yang Xiao Long
Like the rest of her team, Emerald has managed to fake a friendship with Yang, who appears familiar with her, even fondly addressing her by the nickname "Em". In actuality, Emerald holds Yang in low regard, referring to her as a "bimbo".
After Yang breaks Mercury's leg following their match in the finals of the Vytal Festival tournament, Emerald shoots Yang an angry glare for hurting him. Though part of the act, it is possible she was letting her true opinion of Yang show through.
In "Haven's Fate", Emerald is shocked when Yang emerges from the vault with the Relic of Knowledge.
Others
Tukson
Together with Mercury, Emerald seeks out Tukson to kill him due to his intentions to leave the White Fang and flee to Vacuo. The pair at first toy with him, with Emerald putting on a friendly façade and enquiring about his inventory of books, before they begin to intimidate and ultimately kill him.
She appears to show no remorse for him after he is killed, even joking about the matter and calling him a rat.