Grabbing her swords and stepping out into the sunlight, the girl blinks as her eyes adjust. The boy is nowhere to be seen. "Oh, come on. This again?" She concentrates for a moment and then whirls around, catching the boy's sword on the edges of her own. "You know jump attacks don't work on me," She chides. The boy sighs. "Darn your semblance!" The girl shakes her head in mock anger. "I thought we were training. Otherwise why did you wake me up so early?" He flashes a (admittedly slightly wicked) smile, and she continues. "Oh- I get it. Don't we have an inspection today? She's going to watch us, and she's not easy to please." "Is Raven ever?" The boy laughs. "Anyway, that's not why I woke you up. I wanted to show you something. Come on."
The doors of the White Fang throne room thudded open, and the High Leader looked up from the charts she was studying. A girl was standing in the doorway, one foot on top of an unconscious soldier- one of the throne room's guards. "Are you Sienna Khan?"
Sienna studied the girl for a moment. If she knew who Sienna was, there was no point in feigning ignorance. Besides, anyone strong enough to simply bust into one of the White Fang's highest-security headquarters was clearly not someone to mess with. Still...
"Who wants to know?"
"My name is Phoenix DeGavi. I'm looking for one of your men. Does the name Adam Taurus mean anything to you?"
Sienna was only barely able to contain her gasp. This girl- Phoenix, apparently- was looking for one of her most trusted lieutenants? Never mind that, she was looking for one of the most dangerous people in the White Fang?
"What could you possibly want with Adam?" Sienna asked, the suspicion in her voice clear. Phoenix looked down.
"I- I knew him when we were younger. But he was... I suppose kidnapped is the right word. I need to find him." The cold determination in her voice startled Sienna. She had only heard that sort of tone in one other person's voice- a young man's, when he talked about getting the Faunus what they deserved. For the first time since Phoenix walked through the door, Sienna found herself actually considering giving the girl the information she had asked for. Honestly, she was growing closer and closer to that action the more she thought about it. If Phoenix was telling the truth and she really did know Adam, then someone (perhaps even two someones) was happy and no harm was done. On the other, more likely hand, if Phoenix was lying, she'd get to Adam and he'd kill her. Even a girl who could take down that many armed guards would be no match for Adam. So...
"All right."
Phoenix looked up from her position in front of the throne.
"You'll help me?"
Sienna nodded. "I sent Adam to Vale. Apparently, he's doing some sort of attack near Beacon Academy in two weeks."
"Beacon... Two weeks..." Phoenix muttered as she keyed the words into her Scroll. "Thank you. This was a lot easier then most of my other information-gathering encounters have been."
Turning to leave, she saw the unconscious man strewn across the floor. "Sorry about your guards, by the way. Don't worry, they'll wake up soon!"
And with that, the doors of the White Fang throne room thudded closed.
Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter was so short- the next one will be longer, I promise! Wait... no. Probably not the next one. But definitely the one after that! Thanks to everyone who's read this- and by "everyone" I mean the two people who are actually interested in this story. Anyway...
We'll see you next time on From Ashes!