Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of the thief and the girl who walked on fire. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own RWBY, Monty Oum, and Rooster Teeth do.

Cye looked at his surroundings, the smell of unprocessed dust hung in the air. The low-hanging lights shone in his eyes, almost blinding the Faunus if he didn't hold a hand to his face. He placed a hand on one of the dozens of dust crates that surrounded them like a maze. There were also many haphazardly thrown around boxes, a sign they had thrown safety concerns were thrown to the side.

"Jacques sucks at this, raw dust crystals everywhere, crappy lights," Cye muttered as he shook his head, curious as to this area. "Speaking of that? We can blow some of the stuff up, a small explosion? It will get them to investigate, we slip aboard one of those ships. I hotwire it, and we fly out of Solitas. I'll leave the thinking after that." Cye added, pausing so could lightly peek over the edge.

He watched Cinder's features darkened, her eyes narrowed, the bags under her eyes scrunched up as she thought about the plan. If this plan goes well? They'd get out and they'd be free, there was little chance of Atlas pursing a pair of thieves across the country and into another kingdom. It was not going to be easy, but when they got to Mistral? They could blend into the background, vanishing until they had another move ready.

"Why are you so against killing? There are plenty of corrupt soldiers in Atlas." Cinder said, her swords held at the ready as Cye shook his head, looking around the chambers once more.

"Because one? Those ARENT soldiers, their security guards just doing their jobs, just like the military is." Cye said as he drummed his fingers on his legs. "Two? Because it will be more trouble than it will be worth, and third? Because I don't want blood on my hands. I kill bad people, not idiots who deserve it at the end of the day." Cye said as he shook his head, unwilling to simply tell her to leave well enough alone.

"We still wouldn't have many issues if we…" Cinder started to say as Cye looked at her, his eyes telling their own story at the moment. "You have more morals than most in Solitas do." Cinder said as Cye shrugged, unsure of what to tell his friend.

"Just because people think you're a monster?" Cye asked, his eyes lowering as he did so. "Doesn't mean you have to prove them right. There are plenty of people who think the Faunus are monsters. I am to be one of the people who ISN'T. They can hate me all they want, I won't prove them right, it's better to show them why they're wrong." Cye added, slowly standing up.

He looked at the guardians again. They were alert, stalking the permitter of the spherical landing pad. He noticed their footsteps and manners. They were on edge, but they weren't alert and actively looking for intruders. That helped him formulate a plan of attack.

"Do you think you can make some noise right at the bottom of the landing pad?" Cye asked, raising an eyebrow as he did so. "We make a distraction, hoof it to the ship, punch in the codes and be in another zip code before then. All it will take is luring some of the guards out of their current hiding spots and such." Cye said, gesturing around him as he did so.

Cinder watched as Cye pointed to a stack of crates on the other end of the room. It was quite clear his distraction involved a LOT of things breaking, it almost made her want to raise the question once more, she didn't, however. Cinder could guess that Cye had enough of a plan to think on his feet, curious as to HOW they would go if given enough time to execute it.

"You won't leave me, will you?" Cinder asked, her eyes opening and closing as Cye nodded, unwilling to make a promise he couldn't keep.

He knew they'd escape, but losing, however? That meant being captured and probably being pressganging into the corporation's workforce or something similar to it. Neither wanted it to occurred which meant that they'd have to be careful.

"I wish I had a weapon," Cinder stated while she shook her head. "Wait, you know how to fly one of those ships?" Cinder questioned which garnered a nod from her friend.

"Yes," Cye stated while he cleared his throat. "I can. Kinda a long story, and we don't have the time for me to point out how at the moment. I still need you to get them to move for a minute and get the ship." Cye started while he shook his head as he started to think of the plan.

Cinder frowned to which Cye mentally sighed to himself while he mentally shook his head. He didn't want this woman to hate him or entirely lose hope in him when it came down to it. Cye knew he'd have to do something about it when it came down to it.

Cye sighed while he started to think before he slowly started to step down from where he was. Cinder watched as he looked at her while she moved towards the other side of the room.

"I will help you," Cye stated before he leaped to the other side of the room while he smiled.

She was aware of what happened if this went side. Part of her trusted him. Cinder could tell that he wanted to help, yet another part didn't think anyone cared about her when it came down to it.

'No. One last time I'll try to trust… If he betrays me? I'll kill him. I won't become the monster that she was. I can't become a monster like her.' Cinder thought before she sighed to herself.

She was starting to hate the fact that someone had betrayed her. They had taken her care and thrown it to the side. Her 'family' had wanted a toy they could shatter into pieces when they were done with it. She didn't want to think about someone else who used her and then threw her away.

She watched as Cye started to slowly traipse behind boxes. He looked at her with a care that she didn't know existed. He was waiting for her to do something when it comes down to it.

Cinder nodded and looked down at her hands which glowed with power. Her semblance made her powerful, she just didn't know what to do if it wasn't a fight. She looked at the dust which was easy to destroy and she started to think about what happened if she did so. The explosion would also kill people in the blast zone.

She wanted to think about that, but there was also the desire for her to want to leave at the moment. There was also nothing she could honestly do to stop or help these people either. If she took a few with her and Cye? There would be countless who suffered in their place.

Cye snapped his weapon into its rifle form as he sighed to himself before he shook his head. He was interested in if this woman was going to be a hero or not. Still? He didn't want to push Cinder into doing something she didn't want to do. There was plenty of work to be done when it came down to it.

He wanted to be ready for when they escaped as well as he hummed to himself. A bated breath held in his throat as he did so. What happened if they escaped was simply something that had honestly made him ponder if they'd at all be prepared for when they escaped into another place.

Cinder held her hand in the air and focused her semblance on bringing the case in front of her. She wasn't stupid nor did she expect him to try and deal with the soldiers which he ignored. Cye's entire gaze seemed to be aimed towards her as of now. it seemed to be something he contemplated with a rather weird interest. She stared at him as she started to heat the panel in front of him.

"If it burns? Let it and go." Cye whispered before he sighed as he realized that the case was to explode a few moments later.

If it entirely exploded into metal filaments? She'd be wounded and probably expected something such as him betraying her. He hadn't seen what had harmed her, yet the claws of corruption were easily seen on her face when he stared at her. Cye would reaffirm his trust and faith in her 1000 times if needed.

Yet he was aware of the fact it did nothing at the moment to soothe her damaged spirit. What little he had told her was nothing if she didn't hold some form of physical bond between them. It was simply something he had to handle properly and with the respect it needed.

He sighed as he realized that the road he had chosen was all too long at the end of the road. There was simply nothing to do at the moment besides praying they reached something of common ground and the matter was to be debated soon. Cye had no real options besides that at the time and he wished he did. Cinder was not someone he wanted to abandon anytime soon.

It also seemed she wished for a friend in this world which beat down on people such as them. Cye had seen far too little trust and care for people to return it. There were more problems on his plate than he knew what to properly do with.

"We aren't going anywhere or doing anything that will put either of us in danger. I'm not letting someone fall apart anytime soon, not on my watch." Cye stated before the spark from her fingers hit the Dust.

There was an explosion, one of vibrant colors which seemed to spread across the area. Fires burned and consumed everything in the area. It made him question what was going on if the fires were consuming every single thing around them.

This place was going to burn down to nothing sooner or later. The soldiers rushed away as Cinder limped towards him, her aura shattered as he tugged her aboard the transport.

"I told you. I don't leave anyone behind. Not even if it helps." Cye said while he sighed and started to look around with interest. "We need to go before they come back and kill both of us. Go now." Cye stated before he seemed to start up the engines.

He settled into the cockpit and tapped buttons. Cinder stared at him shocked as he did so. He pulled her into the next step before he glanced at her.

"I'd get comfy. We are going to be getting out of here. Also? I wouldn't worry as much about this as you think." Cye stated before he tilted his head and tapped a few minutes.

"There's going to be a lot more to do when we get out of here, though. Just hope you know that." Cye said before he gunned the engines.

There were roars of defiance, they didn't wish for anyone to leave. Shocking to him was only how loud they were.

He punched the engines as the craft slowly started.

Author notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed at the moment. The next chapter will be in 2-10 months or such. I will be making chapters that are 3000 plus or more soon. The next chapter will be 900-6500 words and will show Cye and Cinder escaping and setting up the next arc at the moment. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!