Amiya woke up before her alarm. It was late in the evening, too late in fact. She probably wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, which was a shame since the bed was so comfortable. She contemplated simply sinking back into the bed and try forcing it, when Rosmontis let out a small sigh next to her.
Originally they had different rooms, but the feline had found herself uncomfortable, saying that there was too much space and not enough people. In the end they'd opted to simply share a room - Amiya offered to let her take the bed for herself, but her companion refused. They'd wound up sharing, which she had to admit was fairly easy given the size of the thing.
"Amiyuh. Whut time is it?" she asked sleepily.
The cautus smiled, patting her head. "Still early, no need to get up."
She mumbled something she couldn't quite understand, before curling into a ball, presumably to go back to sleep.
Amiya let out a light laugh, before carefully moving out of bed to avoid disturbing her. Still in her nightgown, she slipped a jacket over herself before stepping out of her room.
"Hmm, at times like this, I usually made my way to Kalt'sit's room..."
Her rabbit ears drooped a bit, thinking of her mentor and caretaker, before she shook her head to disperse the gloomy thoughts coming forward.
They would meet again. She was sure of it. For now she would be busy helping the Faunus, but once everything was stabilized, she could turn her attention to finding a way back home.
She only hoped that time would come sooner.
Stopping abruptly, she realized she'd been wandered off for quite a bit, finding herself on an open balcony nearby. Much to her surprise, there was another person there as well.
"Adam."
The bull Faunus turned towards her, brow quirked upwards but not looking the least bit surprised. He wasn't wearing his mask, a rarity.
"Amiya." He had forgone the title, which was fine. She had asked him to do as much when it was just them. "I see you couldn't sleep either."
She shook her head. "I slept just fine. It's simply one of those nights."
"Hmph. I see."
A small smile made it's way at his brusque response. She made her way towards him, patting him on the shoulder. The action caused him to frown, but he otherwise did nothing.
"For someone that can be so charismatic with his subordinates, you're a really awkward conversationalist."
He snorted, but replied anyway. "Rallying speeches and mission briefing is easy. Holding a conversation with you that doesn't feel as though you're constantly piercing through me is not."
"Hey, I'm not doing anything like that!" she protested.
"What you think and what you do are two different things entirely Amiya," he replied, before letting out an exasperated huff. "It's not entirely unwarranted, but it's tiring on my part. I didn't used to have to think so much, before you came along and made my life difficult."
There was no malice in his tone, the small chuckle he let out at the end making clear he was simply poking fun at her, and the brunette pouted at the insinuation that she was nothing but kind to him.
Before she could voice her displeasure, Adam spoke.
"Is what we're doing going to work?"
There was nothing in his voice to suggest it. To anyone else, it sounded like a simple question. The bull Faunus sounded as self-assured as ever, and his tone of voice suggested as much. Amiya had known him for over half a year now, however - that Adam was even asking at all was an oddity.
"Not confident in me, Adam?" she asked, her tone teasing.
He remained silent, not looking at her but instead at the quadrangle down below, and Amiya frowned.
"You're nervous," she replied, more seriously this time. "That's unusual for you."
This time he laughed, and to her it sounded forced.
"Yes, I guess it is," he admitted easily - another oddity for him, "but I think I have the right to be. For the first time in a long time, I feel as if we're finally getting somewhere. A huge step forward. I don't want this to fail."
He was being honest with his feelings. That was three-for-three on oddities this night. Amiya looked up at the night sky, wondering if a full moon was responsible for this bit of madness, before remembering the shattered state of Remnants moon and frowned.
"Is something the matter Adam? It's not like you to be this worried."
Adam remained silent for a moment, before letting out a long sigh.
"Blake. She's here. Or was."
At that, Amiya's mouth formed a small 'o' and she understood.
"Blake, your old partner?"
"My old partner," he confirmed bitterly. "I thought I'd readied myself. I knew that she was here at Beacon. Knew there was a chance I'd come across her, so I thought I prepared myself."
Except he hadn't. He spotted her in the crowd when she was having a shouting match with the Schnee - and didn't that just throw him for a loop? Blake Belladonna hanging out with a Schnee.
Judging by the others around her, he hazarded that Weiss Schnee was on her team, if not her partner. What delicious irony was that? The daughter of the ex-High Chief of the White Fang and the Schnee heiress, teammates. Except Blake had hidden her ears - a clear sign of where she stood.
He couldn't believe it. The girl he knew was passionate about their cause, would fight tooth and nail to uplift their people anyway she could. Instead, she had hidden away her identity, her entire heritage, and masqueraded as something she wasn't in a clear act of cowardice.
It would have been so easy to dismiss it as just that. Just Blake being a coward, a weakling who ran away from the cause when the stakes were too high.
But lately Adam had thought that perhaps doing what was easy wasn't what was right. Or rather, remembered that things that came too easily couldn't be trusted - there was always a price associated with such things.
To so easily accept the idea of Blake's cowardice might come at the cost of the truth, and Adam found that he couldn't accept that deal.
The reason being the short brunette staring at him, the concern on her face plain as day. If there was something wrong with what he had done when Blake was by his side, he needed to know, if only to avoid doing the same to Amiya. Not when any mistaken idea could jeopardize what was being built here, the momentous efforts that were to come of which she was central to.
He remembered when they first met - this seemingly spineless girl who looked so lost, along with twelve others who seemed utterly determined to protect her.
He'd thought her spoiled, to be honest. Maybe a sheltered rich girl who'd run away from home. Not someone who would lead the Faunus into a new era, not someone who's gaze was filled with so much steel, it paralyzed you.
"You asked me before, if I was prepared to do anything for our people," he continued. "I'd thought back then you were referring to how much blood I was willing to spill for the cause."
His or theirs, it didn't really matter.
"But now I think you meant how much of myself I would have to give up. I want to chase after her so, so badly, to demand answers, and it burns, but I can't. Not when there's so much to do. Whatever business I have with her will have to stay unfinished, at least until everything's been settled."
Left unsaid was how long that would take. The path they were on might have great effects right away, but it was a long term commitment. There might never come a time where either of them would be able to step away.
"You know Adam, one of my mentors once told me 'if you have to sacrifice a part of yourself for success, then you've already failed.'"
There it was again, another mention of these mysterious 'mentors' of hers. One, he knew the name of - Kal'tsit, as Folinic mentioned her often enough - but the other, he only knew by title.
"Is this another one of your beloved 'Doctors' nuggets of wisdom?" he asked, an amused smile on his face.
Predictably, the girls' face flushed, and glared at him without any heat.
"Why do you sound so skeptical?" she asked.
Adam huffed. "This is the same man that bragged about cooking instant noodles by eating it raw and pouring boiling water down his throat."
Amiya's face was on her hands right away as she mumbled, "I knew I shouldn't have told you that story..."
"Still, I will have to disagree with him there. Some sacrifices have to be made, for the sake of the greater good," he said with sad smile.
She shook her head.
"It might not feel like it Adam, but those that give up a part of themselves for the sake of victory will sooner or later lose sight of what they had fought for."
Her eyes had taken on a piercing quality he had grown accustomed to seeing. It was an expression born from hardship and experience, and Adam couldn't help but be transfixed every time.
Such, he supposed, was the depths of her charisma. Or her empathy.
"You chip at yourself, little by little, thinking that it's fine, that whatever worth you have is nothing compared to the whole. But there's a consequence to that. There's always a consequence when you sacrifice a part of yourself."
Her eyes took on a far away look, and though Adam couldn't see it, he knew that her mind was on some distant, harrowing memory.
For Amiya, she relieved those moments again. Someone she failed to protect, broken by her hand after she had broken her heart. A frost covered battlefield and a dying friend. The last Wendigo who chose death, defying fate to the end.
On and on the faces of familiar foes surfaced, each a testament to the consequences of sacrificing oneself for a cause.
Misha, Faust, Mephisto Frostnova, Patriot.
There was no happiness there, the Doctor had concluded one day, and Amiya agreed with him.
"You'll lose yourself little by little, until you've ground out your soul. All that will be left is wishing for death... or a monster who no longer cares."
The silence between the two them was thick as Adam processed her words. Eventually, the red-head simply leaned on the balcony again, this time his gaze not at anything in particular.
"And yet..." he replied in a hushed voice after what felt like an eternity. "We may not have a choice. Some things are bigger than us."
"Some things are bigger than an individual," retorted Amiya, walking over beside him. "That's why we have comrades to share this burden with, so we aren't forced to carry it all ourselves. I think if even one person has decided to help, everyone breathes a bit easier."
He nodded slowly, deciding not to argue the point further.
...
"Do you trust me Adam?" she asked suddenly.
Back then he would have answered 'no' right away, now however...
"...it's surprising, but I do. You've given me no reason not to."
"Then trust that if you ever find yourself on the edge, I'll help pull you back, okay?"
At her words, he felt himself struck speechless. Not only by content of her declaration, but the earnestness in which she said them. As far as hew could recall, no one had uttered such words to him.
Not even Blake.
When Adam smile, it was a rare, genuine smile which surprised Amiya. It was much gentler than she anticipated.
One bold declaration to match another, he supposed.
"Then, my Queen, so long as you have the good interest of the Faunus in mind, I will always have your back, even if all the four Kingdoms are against you. You have my word."
Amiya looked stunned for a moment, before giggling. Adam flushed and looked away pointedly, suddenly aware of how corny he sounded. He'd spoken like that with Blake, but to do so with Amiya was an entirely different matter!
"Thank you, Adam. I promise I won't let down your trust."
The young man didn't offer a verbal response, simply nodding and continuing to look away, the blasted warmth in his cheeks refusing to abate.