When Ilia returned to the apartment that night alone, she had no idea what would be waiting for her there.

Emerald and Mercury hadn't returned. Even when night had fallen and Ilia felt herself falling asleep right in the warehouse, they were nowhere to be found. Eventually, she knew she would have to leave by herself, saying her farewells to Banesaw. The man was so busy arguing with Roman over something that he didn't even hear her.

Once outside the apartment door, she paused, noticing something different than before. A small gap between the unlocked door and the doorframe. Someone was inside.

Stomach flipping with anxiety, her shaking hand gripped the doorknob tightly. The door creaked loudly as she pushed it open more. Inside, she could see the main lights were switched off, with only the glow of the tableside lamp providing any sort of light.

She couldn't miss the outline of a person sitting in that same chair by the couch.

Glowing amber eyes stared at her, that same chilling voice calling out softly. "Are the others still out?"

"They didn't come back yet. I think they're still checking out the Dust stores Roman sent them to." Ilia explained, trying to keep her nerve while closing the door behind her.

It was terrifying being in the same room as Cinder. The woman never once raised her voice, keeping a calm and collected appearance with her subordinates at all times, but the way those eyes, thoseunnaturaleyes, stared back at her…

Lips pulled into a tight frown, Ilia quickly tried to leave for the bedroom. She couldn't even take one step before Cinder called out. "Where'd you think you're going?"

"To… To get some sleep?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"A…" she didn't know what to say. "An answer."

Cinder hummed at that. "Stay a moment. There's something I'd like to show you."

She stopped dead in her tracks.

The air felt freezing cold at that moment, the heating in the apartment long broken down with no one bothering to get it fixed. As she exhaled sharply, she could see her breath fogging up in front of her face.

Without another word, Cinder picked up the remote right beside her. Eyes trained entirely on Ilia, she watched for any sign on the girl's face, any moment where the fear sitting deep in her belly threatened to show. When Ilia managed to keep her nerve, the older woman simply turned the old TV on with aclick.

The screen buzzed to life. Slowly turning around, Ilia stared at it tuning for a moment, unable to ignore the confusion and worry that ate at her.

Finally, the TV flickered, and sure enough, the News was on for both of them to see.

"Evening to anyone tuning in right now," a reporter started. "Here's the breaking news of the horrific attack that happened this afternoon."

The reporter wasn't someone Ilia recognised. Dressed in a deep purple dress suit, she was immaculate with lavender hair straightened into a bob cut, her yellow eyes staring straight into the camera as she carried on reading whatever was being shown just off to the side.

"Earlier this afternoon, the murder of a local bookstore owner was reported to the VPD. Tukson Morales, the owner of the bookstore; Tukson's Book Trade, was found dead in his store by citizen that was wandering past." The reporter paused as the TV changed, showing the outside of the bookstore. "Here, we have live interviews with the chief commissioner of the police department, Chief Bruno Rex."

Suddenly, the TV screen changed to show the man in question. Ilia stood there in silence, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on her while listening closely.

"Now, Chief Commissioner, is there anything that could help you and your officers in this disturbing crime?"The reporter asked.

With a deep sigh, the policeman answered honestly. "In all honesty, Miss Lavender, I'm afraid we're running into a stump. There have been no witnesses that came forward, those we've questioned have seen hardly anyone go in or out of the store around the time of Mr Morales' death, and there's just no leads at the moment."

"Is there really nothing you can share with us?"

"Other than some evidence pointing to our victim having planned on leaving Vale very shortly for Vacuo, no."

"Well, he was a Faunus. Could this be the work of the FRS?"

"The thing with hate groups like the Faunus Rejection Society is that they want to make a statement. These people typically make it known that it was them, just not connected to a specific person that we can arrest." Bruno explained, his canine ears twitching as he did so. "There has been none of that here. Nothing left that is usually done by these kinds of groups."

"Well, what about the White Fang?"

Ilia's shoulders tensed up. At that moment, she could've sworn the room got hotter than before.

Bruno shared her same reaction.

Stiffening up, he thought deeply on his answer, eyes briefly dropping to the ground before he picked it back up. "I highly doubt they were involved. White Fang activity has all but dropped significantly since their attack on Sasnak Docks two years ago. They are still working in Vale, but have stayed away from the main cities for the most part."

She had no idea they were so powerless in this city.

"All protests we have had here lately have been reasonably peaceful with other Faunus activist groups, and I have worked hard to keep it that way." Bruno finished.

"So, what is the plan now for you and your men?"

"We'll be carrying on the investigation as best we can. In the meantime, I implore anyone watching who might know something to come forward, and any family members that might recognise Tukson Morales." He paused for a moment. "We'll try our best to bring his killers to justice, but we can't do this alone."

"Thank you for your time, Chief Co-"

The TV shut off.

Everything fell silent. Standing there, Ilia could only breathe heavily, trying not to turn around even when she heard Cinder's voice call out to her. "Interesting how one of the targets given by your boss winds up dead on the same day you three have most of the day to yourselves."

From how she said that, Ilia knew deep down that she couldn't lie her way out of this. She could only stand there, feeling the hot air around her intensify with each punctuated word coming out of Cinder's mouth. "What did you do?"

"We…" Ilia gulped loudly. "We saw Tukson in his store before. I didn't know what was gonna happen, I swear!"

Finally, she turned around, trying her best to avoid Cinder's wrath. Yet, all her words died when a hand suddenly cupped her cheek.

It was firm but not tight. Painted fingernails scratched faintly at her skin, reminding Ilia just how dangerous her situation was without any threat uttered. All she could do was stand there in terror and stare up into those glowing eyes.

"Now…" Cinder started. "Who was it that killed the little runaway?"

She didn't answer.

Whatever patience Cinder had vanished soon enough. Clawed fingernails pinched at Ilia's cheek, her heart racing when she felt a searing heat start to burn at her skin.

Suddenly, she cried out in a blind panic. "Emerald! It… was Emerald's plan."

That burning pain faded when Cinder removed her hand. As she backed away, Ilia almost doubled over in relief, feeling sweat rolling down the side of her face while trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. That fear remained, unrelenting when she looked up at the older woman.

Her back to Ilia, the teen couldn't see what was on her face, but after that brief show of power, she knew better than to enrage Cinder any further.

At that moment, she heard the door open behind her. Ilia spun around, worried that her brief shout of fear had alerted some unfortunate neighbour. That was not the case when she saw Emerald and Mercury strolling through the door like nothing was wrong.

Emerald was the first to notice Ilia's expression. A brief second of confusion, any attempt to try and explain, to warn her of Cinder's anger, was dashed when Cinder was the first to speak. "You two have been busy today."

"Roman sent us on another goose chase. We didn't know how long it'd take until we got to the store and found it having updated the security system." Emerald explained. "It won't happen again. On the bright side, we managed to get everything we know back to Roman, so he should be able to-"

"I don't care about the stores right now." Cinder cut her off harshly.

Emerald was taken aback. Standing there, she stared at Cinder with wide, crimson eyes, unable to hide the surprise when her boss carried on. "I recall giving Banesaw and Iya the orders to help Roman in taking out any White Fang runaways, not you two."

"I-"

"Did I not give you both specific orders to keep your hands clean while we're here?"

"Yes." Emerald nodded, her gaze falling to the ground solemnly.

"Then why did you go out of your way to disobey me?" Cinder's face darkened, all but glaring at Emerald while Mercury and Ilia could only stand there and watch.

Emerald furrowed her eyebrows. "I just thought-"

"Don't think.Obey."

She emphasised that last word. The way her hair drifted, like it was caught in a breeze that didn't exist, put everyone else on edge. None of them could argue or fight back. All they could do was stand there, with Emerald taking the brunt of the anger silently.

With her lips firmly pressed together, she just nodded her head and obeyed. "It won't happen again."

"Good. From now on, you three will follow every order to the letter." Cinder instructed them. "You will not take any matters in your own hands. You will obey, and you will not step a foot out of line like tonight. I will not be so merciful next time."

Ilia frowned deeply at that. The way Cinder held herself, the way she talked down to her and Emerald, it reminded her of unfortunate times back home. She never wanted to feel that powerless again.

But after that display of power, she couldn't fight back like she did before. Whether Ilia liked it or not, she had to keep to herself for now and just follow along, at least until the chance to escape back to the White Fang showed itself.

From the scowl on his face, she noticed that Mercury wasn't exactly pleased with the situation either. Before he could say anything, however, Emerald jumped in with complete compliance. "We understand."

That seemed to placate Cinder's anger. The gold trims of her dress no longer glowing, the heat that radiated throughout the whole room faded away, leaving a coldness that bit at Ilia's uncovered hands.

Cinder's own hands slipped back into her long flowing sleeves, remaining there while she thankfully changed the subject. "Despite your blunder, our plans seem to be coming along well. News has come back from Mistral."

"What's happened?" Emerald immediately perked up at that.

"Our ally in Haven has approved our applications into the Academy, it seemed. Starting next year, we will be attending the Vytal Tournament here in Beacon." Cinder walked past them, moving towards the window as a finger lifted some of the blinds up.

Peering through, she remained there even as she carried on explaining. "It's important that none of us are caught until we can start the final phase."

"Us?" Ilia suddenly piped up.

Immediately turning to her, Cinder sounded almost amused when she answered Ilia's question. "Congratulations. You'll be one of the youngest students to ever attend Haven Academy."

That stunned her. She had no intention of coming to Beacon to be a student, or at least pretending to be one. Did the others know about this?

Before she could try and voice any concerns she had, Emerald was quick to interrupt her, turning Cinder's attention to herself instead. "What'd we do until then? The festival isn't for another nine months."

"Keep your head low and leave Roman to his job. You've at least done well in handing over the prime targets to him." Emerald took that praise with a smile. "As far as everyone knows, you are simply students. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am. We'll be careful."

That seemed to placate Cinder. For now.

With a smile, she simply turned her back to the teens, walking towards her own bedroom with a final order. "You all should get some rest. Time can pass more quickly than you think."

None of them answered back. The thud of the closing door was deafening in the still air, the silence that followed after weighing heavily on everyone's shoulders.

What made it worse was Mercury snapping at Ilia as he sat down on the couch. "The hell did you say to her?"

"I didn't mean to say anything." Ilia tried to defend herself. "She saw it on the news. I couldn't lie to her, she would've just hurt me even more. I… I didn't know what else to say."

"It's done. Let's just drop it."

Emerald sounded tired when she cut the argument off. As she sat down next to Mercury, she sighed softly to herself, her eyes hidden behind her bangs when she leaned forward slightly.

All Ilia could feel was sympathy for the older teen. She was exhausted, the weight of the argument now clear to see, but she couldn't think of what to say. Confliction was all shecouldfeel, all that plagued her very thoughts. Seeing what she did on the news just made it worse.

They killed the same people the White Fang was supposed to be protecting. Ilia killed them.

Yet, just when the anger and frustration threatened to overwhelm her, turning her scales a deep red, she overheard Emerald call out to her. "I actually got you something while we were out."

Intrigued, Ilia silently approached her, staring down at the bag that was hanging by Emerald's waist. There was no way she had that before she left Ilia, the teen recalled every time they were together, and not once could she ever remember the sight of that inconspicuous bag.

All her questions vanished when she saw Emerald pull out a heavy looking tome. Carefully, she handed it over to Ilia, waiting for her to take it before speaking. "I've been lugging this heavy thing everywhere."

The grimoire from Tukson's store.

Shocked, she stared down at it, running a hand along the real leather cover while Emerald carried on. "Just don't go showing it off anywhere. Not a smart idea to be seen with the prized possession of the guy who was just murdered."

"That's… what's been on my mind." Ilia confessed.

Quickly, however, Mercury was quick to cut her off. "If you're gonna give us crap for doing Roman's job like your friends did, save it. I ain't in the mood to hear it."

"I don't care." Ilia's freckles flared up a bright red. "You guys didn't even tell me what you were planning to do. You're a Faunus, Emerald, aren't you even a little guilty over having to kill one of your own people?"

Emerald was quick to answer with a scowl. "I don't have any people left."

That surprised Ilia.

Standing there in stunned silence, all she could do was listen while Emerald added on in a cold tone. "You think the White Fang is some kind of family that saved you. Well, good for you. They didn't do shit to save me. I had to do it all on my own."

Mercury's expression softened slightly at that confession.

He didn't say anything. Neither did Ilia, both only able to stay frozen in their places when Emerald carried on in her anger. "I don't care about the White Fang or whatever you guys think. All I care about is Cinder. She's the only one who's looked out for me."

"But someone who cares about you doesn't treat you like that."

"And how would you know?!" The sharp yell caught Ilia off-guard.

Shocked, she took a step back, staring up at Emerald with widened eyes. The look in her own put fear in Ilia's heart. A fear she didn't know she would feel with them, she actually took a step back, wanting to put some space between her and Emerald.

Hands shaking with rage, she kept ripping into Ilia relentlessly. "You have no idea what Cinder and I have gone through! You just came here with that guy who thinks he's your dad, and you think you can just judge everyone else 'cause you don't wanna look at yourself?"

"That's not true."

"You were there, you helped us take out that rat and now you're in the same boat as us!" Emerald jabbed a finger into Ilia's chest. "You don't get to sit back and act like you're better than me. The White Fang does the exact same thing and you're still with them, you still make excuses for them. Now all of a sudden, why are you acting like such a child?"

Ilia was silent for only a moment.

"'Cause I am a kid."

That was her only response. With Emerald taken aback by the answer, Ilia didn't give her another chance to carry on the argument. Arms wrapped tightly around the book, she quickly turned around and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

The echo rang through the frozen air. She stopped right there on the balcony, staring over the edge to see the streets below. With a few street lights scattered about, others broken with pockets of darkness, she glanced up at the broken moon that shone brightly above. In that brief moment, everything was almost… peaceful.

But she didn't remain there forever, taking her book and walking down the hallway until she found herself on the ground floor.

After that, she just walked. For as long as she could, trudging through the sleet that had frozen to the streetwalk. Her jacket, already clean of the blood that stained it before, was the only thing keeping her from freezing, having to ditch her thick sweater with a thinner shirt.

It wasn't a smart choice, but it was one of the few things she had that was her own.

The streets were almost confusing at night. A lone teen wandering around was some cause of concern, a few adults were still out looking at her with worry, but she was quick to rush away, keeping her head low to try and avoid extra attention.

She could go back to the warehouse, try and stay wherever Banesaw was sleeping. Wherever she had to go, she didn't want to return to that apartment, at least for tonight.

As she walked around the lonely city streets, she noticed something in the distance. Even with the glow of the streetlights, it wasn't difficult to spot the red and gold glow that illuminated the night sky, the distant sound of music reaching her ears.

With her book close to her chest, curiosity got the better of her, pushing Ilia to follow after it like a moth to a flame.

By the time she could see what it was, she was tired, cold and lost.

She had never seen something like what was happening around her. Crowds of people all packed together, flooding the street and the road with no vehicle able to get through, adorned in masks and wild headdresses that resembled various creatures.

When one passed by dressed in a terrifying mask, Ilia shrank away. She couldn't tell who they were, the person dressed from head to toe in fur, their mask like a lion or a dog, she couldn't really see what exactly it was. What startled her the most was the flaming torches they were carrying.

Quickly, she shoved her book under her jacket, trying her best to protect it from the fire waving around.

There was so much happening around her. In a dazed confusion, she backed away, carrying on further and further until something hit her in the back. With a pained yelp, she fell to the ground. "Oof!"

"Woah!" A voice called out in shock, hands already helping Ilia up from the ground. "Sorry about that, I didn't see you…"

Ilia looked up at her helper. Everything felt like it froze, her eyes widening when they stared at the person in front of her.

Only one word could escape her. "Adam?"

Adam stood there in complete shock. No longer hiding his face behind his mask, Ilia was surprised by how blue his eye was, the other hidden away behind a thick white bandage. It wasn't just his mask that was missing, his White Fang uniform gone with a casual winter wear replacing it.

He was almost unrecognisable.

"Ilia?" He finally exhaled. "What… What're you doin' here?"

"I-"

"Who's this, Adam?" Another voice cut her off.

In an instant, a girl appeared by his side, dressed in winter wear very much like his own. Dreads pulled up into two matching buns, her voice was muffled through her blue and silver scarf, but Ilia could hear her enough. "Is she a friend?"

"This…" Adam paused for a moment. "This is Ilia."

"You're not exactly dressed for the cold." Another boy piped up, quickly draping his own jacket over Ilia's shoulders. "Here. You look like you need it more than I do."

It was surprisingly warm. Like a heater, Ilia found herself pulling it over herself more, instinctively driven to the warmth radiating from the gold coloured jacket. Even with his black sweater underneath and his red headdress covering most of his head, it was still an outfit unsuitable for the chilly weather.

Suddenly, the other girl leaned right into her face, crimson eyes staring into Ilia's while she leaned back in shock. Freckles and eyes flushed bright pink at the intrusion. "Oh, she glows pink! How cute!"

"Get out of her face, Eirian." Adam scolded, pulling her back by the shoulder.

Shoved by the side of another girl, Ilia could only stand there in shock while Adam turned back to her. "How'd you even get here? No,whyare you even here?"

"I…" She couldn't tell him. "I wanted to find you."

"Find… me?" She answered his question with a nod.

"This the girl you talked about before?" The boy beside him asked.

"Yeah." He gestured to her. "Ilia, this is my… team. Zanthus, Eirian and Ruri."

"Hi!" Eirian waved excitedly. "It's so nice to meet one of Adam's old friends. He never said you could change colour. That's so cool, right? Could you change to match the wall? Oh, oh, how about the colour thing that my mood ring does? I got it two weeks ago but it's still stuck on blue."

"I told you, that's an iolite gem that you misread the label on." Adam corrected.

Ilia didn't know what to think. Adam wasn't the same Adam she remembered, there was no way he would be hanging around with a human, acting like she was a mischievous little sister after so long fighting her kind.

Not only that, she noticed how he looked at Zanthus, how their hands were clasped together while Eirian tried her best to be friends with Ilia.

Disturbed, she tried to keep some space between her and the energetic girl, almost forgetting that the other girl was there until she dragged Eirian back. Hand on her shoulder, she signed to her friend, though whatever she was saying was lost on Ilia.

Finally, Adam approached her again, turning to his friends while asking quietly. "Mind giving us some time alone?"

"No problem." Zanthus nodded, gently turning Eirian around with an amused smirk. "Come on, there's still some food stands we haven't been chased off from."

She had that same grin on her face when she all but yanked Zanthus and Ruri away, obviously excited to keep enjoying the festival.

Alone, Ilia felt Adam's hand on her shoulder, looking up at him to see his face having fallen serious. Even his voice had changed to match his expression. "We need to talk."

Nervously, she followed after him. The older of the two led her away from the peering eyes and ears of the crowds, walking to the outskirts where the streets were nowhere as bright and the crowds all but disappeared.

Under the light of a single street light, Ilia noticed an empty bench.

Adam seemed to have noticed it also. As soon as they were by it, he sat down, gesturing to the empty spot beside him. Silently, Ilia took it. It was almost amusing to anyone passing by how her feet dangled just above the ground, her small body unlike other girls her own age.

From how he sounded when he finally spoke, Adam noticed this also. "You haven't grown much since I left."

"I don't think I'll get much bigger. Not like you and Blake were."

"Yeah," he chuckled at that. "You were always the short one."

She didn't laugh at that. After a moment, neither did Adam, the boy only able to sit there in silence. No words shared. All that could be heard was the sound of the wind blowing through, the snow that had fallen littered with countless footprints.

Staring ahead, Ilia listened as Adam carried on. "I missed you, ya know? Missed everyone back at the camp."

"I think they missed you too. I know I did. You and… Blake." She could barely utter Blake's name.

That caught Adam's attention. Shoulders tensing up, he sighed deeply. "Ilia, Blake… I know the White Fang means a lot to you, I felt the same way. I guess, there's a part of me that still does, but they… I have to tell you this."

"They killed Blake."

He obviously didn't expect that. Head turned completely to her, she could see his aghast expression on his face, no longer able to hide his feelings behind his mask like he used to. "You know?"

"Yes."

"Is…" He rubbed his hands over his face, trying to get himself together before finishing the question. "Is that why you left?"

She didn't answer that. She couldn't tell him the truth, but Adam was her friend, there was no way she could lie to him like that.

Whether he believed her or not was unknown to her. However, he didn't dwell on it for too long, instead focusing on the missing girl that both were still hurting over. "They got her in Vacuo. Took her weapon after they… After they got back, Iya decided to pay me a visit, gave me Blake's weapon, all broken. I don't like remembering that day."

"I wish you guys stayed. That none of this happened."

"I wish it didn't happen either. But… wishing isn't gonna change anything." He leaned backwards against the back of the bench. "Blake isn't coming back. Sitting here and wanting things to go back isn't going to help us, and it isn't gonna bring her back."

She couldn't hide the hurt in her voice. "You… You don't sound that upset."

"Because I let it all out when I found out." He explained calmly. "It's been two years. I loved Blake, I'll miss her until I'm dead too, but I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life in perpetual mourning. It's not what she would want."

"But she's gone. Aren't you upset? Angry?"

"I was."

"So why aren't you showing it?" She could feel that loneliness build up. "Blake's dead. The White Fang killed her, and you're carrying on like nothing ever happened! Wh-Why not come back, then? Work things out, try and help the Faunus like you did before?"

Adam didn't blow up at her. It was so strange seeing him like this, Ilia unable to compare this Adam to the one she knew back in the White Fang. So passionate, dedicated.

When he answered her, it just pushed what she thought she knew about him even further. "The White Fang isn't helping the Faunus. If they were, why would they kill Blake? Try to kill me?"

"Sometimes they had to make the hardest decisions. They still do." Ilia tried to explain. "Even still, I know that they didn't want to do it. Banesaw hated what he did to Blake."

"But he still did it."

"Yeah, but…" she paused. "But…"

"You're still defending them even after you left? I get wanting to defend someone you thought of as family, but there's no excuse with what they've done."

Hands balled into fists on her lap. "I'm not defending them. I was angry and upset when I found out what happened to Blake, but maybe if you guys stayed, maybe if we sorted this out, none of this would've happened. I could've been there if you guys just let me."

"We couldn't stay there anymore, Ilia. We had to get out."

"And you left me behind."

Silence fell between them.

Emotions swirled inside her, Ilia unable to control them as her freckles shifted through various colours. Blue, red, grey, she could hardly stop it before Adam piped up softly. "I'm sorry."

Tears pricked at the corners of her eye. Lips pulled into a thin line, she quietly shrugged off Zanthus' jacket, holding it to Adam with a saddened smile.

"Yeah…" she muttered back. "I'm sorry too."

With that, she simply got up to her feet and walked away from him.

No matter how many times he called after her, she ignored him. Each step was almost impossible. A huge weight with each one, Ilia fighting against the urge to turn around and go back to him, back to her friend.

But he wasn't her friend. Not anymore.

For the first time in a long time, she wasn't plagued by indecision anymore. Adam actually helped her. Opened her eyes to what she needed to do, and what she needed to do was return to the people who shared her grief.

There was nothing left for her there.

That clarity stuck with her all the way back to the warehouse. Even when she snuck inside, wandering through the confusing hallways, she felt eerily calm about it all. Nothing could get to her, nothing could stop her.

Finally, she walked through the heavy exit doors into the shop floor, and right there by the table, as always, was Banesaw.

No one was around, not Roman, Neo, or any of their men. It was just him and Iya, the latter sprawled out on top of one of the containers with her wings drooping down. Her head resting on her crossed arms, she was quick to spot Ilia walking towards them.

"Hey, hey," she looked down at Banesaw. "Kid's outta bed."

He immediately turned around.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, taking a step towards her before realising no one else was around her. "You walked back here on your own? You could've been seen. Anyone around here coulda got you, it's dangerous, Ili-!"

Any angered words died when she immediately threw her arms around his waist. Her face pressed up against his abdomen, Ilia short enough that she couldn't even reach his chest on her toes. He was so warm, the feeling of his hands on the top of her head making her feel safe, safe enough that she couldn't stop the tears that finally broke free.

"You were right." She cried softly. "You were right all along."

His voice was quiet, no longer angry when he asked. "Ilia… what happened?"

"Adam told me that he knew about Blake. He didn't care, he had already moved on from her, and acted like it was a good thing." Ilia tried to explain, unable to stop the anger from seeping in when her freckles glowed red. "She was my best friend! She was hissister,and he doesn't care now that he got new friends in Beacon! He doesn't care about any of us at all."

He didn't say anything at first. Standing there in silence, she could feel his hand tenderly stroking the top of her head, trying his best to comfort the teen with a deep sigh. "I think he's just trying to move on. We all have to, eventually."

"But you did it and you feel more than he does!" Ilia moved away, watching Banesaw kneel down so he was eye level with her. "I thought I knew him. I thought that maybe he was right to leave, that there was a part of the White Fang that I didn't want to be a part of. But I was wrong. He, Blake, everyone, they just leave when things get hard, leave me behind."

Rubbing her eyes furiously, she listened as Banesaw asked. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

She was quiet. As she stood there, staring at Banesaw, she glanced down at her hands once more, watching as those red freckles faded to a soft blue.

She was sick and tired of being left alone.

"Just…" she started. "Just don't leave me."

Softly, Banesaw placed a hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eye with that gentle look. "I ain't gonna leave you."

Relief was all Ilia could feel when she closed the space between them, wrapping her arms around his thick neck and holding him in a tight hug. Hands patted her upper back, trying to calm the girl down while he muttered to her.

"I promise."