It was unknown to Nina that, when they retired for the night after a long day of scouting, Soleil was always the last to fall asleep. Soleil spent each day without a care in the world, but the night was the key to a different side of her. A far more solemn side. Often, she rose from laying on the ground, took her head in her palm, and released a sigh. When she turned to the side, she found Nina laying next to her. It was no coincidence that Nina chose to sleep on her hip so that her back would be turned on her neighbor.

It was all the communication Soleil needed to get the message.

They said they would forget about that one day and that one night if things failed to work out, but nothing was going to be left behind... Not even the one-eighty Soleil decided to pull.

Soleil remained awake each night to wallow, to rise to her feet and wander a little ways from camp until she reached a place where she could not be seen or heard. It was what she dreaded all her life, being alone. Suddenly, it offered the most comfort.

The sun stole the sight, just as it stole the night.

One morning, to Soleil's surprise, Nina was not insistent to awaken at all. Soleil was grateful at first, having been exhausted by the umpteenth sleepless night in a row, but the relief soon turned into questioning. She knew better than to keep calm when something was amiss. She rolled over, and Nina's back was there to greet her. For a moment, just a moment, Soleil felt a twinge erupt in her chest.

She found herself conflicted; a part of her wanted to shake Nina awake so she could ask, but another part forbade her from setting even a finger on any part of her body. Any form of touch made heat swell in her bosom. Not a comforting sort of heat. Instead, it was the maliciousness of a feral wildfire she could not control.

To touch her again...

It would remind her of her agony.

She could not do it.

Soleil resorted to giving her partner a far-from-intimate kick on the calf, which immediately had her release a groggy moan.

"What..." she sounded deeply.

"It's morning, y'know. Aren't you going to get up and threaten to read me your stories to me if I don't get up too?"

With a flop, Nina found herself on her back. Soleil fought not to chuckle at the dirt caked across the side of her face.

"Didn't I already tell you we aren't doing any work in the day anymore? Or were you just not listening to me again?"

Soleil paused, allowing her eyes to widen with bewilderment.

"Really? When did you say that?"

"Yesterday."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did. I said we're going in the fort tonight."

Ever since, sleep escaped from Soleil.

The fort.

Going in the fort.

It was a thought she found much too frightening. How could Nina sleep so soundly when she knew they were going into the fort in just a handful of measly hours?

Multiple times did Soleil want to confide with Nina, hoping to talk her out of such an asinine plan. After all, getting a report on Fort Jinya was not absolutely necessary, was it? All Corrin wanted was for them to get to Castle Shirasagi, gather some information on Hoshido's military, and scamper right on back to the army. Why was Nina going out of her way to mess around at a stupid little fort?

She did not know, nor did she believe she was to find out. Nina needed her rest for the night, and so did she, whether she liked to admit it or not. After several hours of struggling, Soleil barely slipped into a light slumber, but it seemed as though the moment she closed her eyes, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It commanded her to awaken.

Oddly enough, she did not feel as exhausted as she expected, even though the sleep felt awfully short. When her eyelids allowed her vision to prevail, she was met by the inkiness of night. For a moment, she did not even know where she was, but when she turned, the memories flowed back to her.

She found Nina fiddling with the lantern in the moonlight. However, Nina seemed to think that the moon did not give them enough light, for she set the wick ablaze, warming the camp with a golden light. Upon finishing, she nudged the lantern to the side and set herself on the ground.

And they stared.

"Are we going?" Soleil asked, hinting at nervousness with a slight tremble in her voice. She threatened to rise and sit as well, but that was when Nina suddenly shook her head. The sight surprised Soleil enough to render her motionless, especially as she started to draw closer.

"No, I wasn't telling the truth," she replied. "But I did want us to have energy for tonight." Before Soleil could even reply, most likely with a question, Nina brought a hand to her cheek, where she cupped it softly. While blushing, Soleil's eyes widened. She stammered her name, but was interrupted when Nina leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. The motion was fleeting, as it fled from her just moments after it landed. "Did you want to try again?"

"B-But... I th-thought you said... you weren't going to worry about this r-right now."

"Answer me. Do you want to have another shot?"

They both became still, staring into the other's eyes. Nina's were surprisingly gentle, sincere in every respect, and calm. She was the most confident person in the world.

Soleil, on the other hand, was not as sure how to react besides trying to rise from laying. Instead, she was only shoved back down by an insistent hand. She sounded with a grunt when her back slammed against the ground, but it hurt little. What hurt was the way Nina's palm felt against her chest. How hard it pressed against her. How its weight threatened to crush her ribs and puncture her lungs with the cragged ends of her broken bones.

In reality, it was nowhere near as dramatic as Soleil made it out to be.

She was nearly speechless nonetheless.

"Of course I want a second chance," she whispered. To compliment her words, she reached out and bundled the girl into her arms, where she began running her palm down one of the braids trailing down her back. "I truly do love you, but... Nina... There's something I need to tell you..."

Before she could do the telling, she felt a hand grip her shoulder again. It began shaking her. When she failed to respond within a reasonable amount of time, the hand shook with far more insistence. At last, she finally gave it what it wanted by opening her eyes, gasping in the meantime. The moment her mouth shut, her gaze landed upon Nina, who abandoned her side.

"Finally up yet?" she asked while fondling the lantern. She brought a flame to the wick as she spoke. "Sorry to interrupt you. You seemed like you were having a good dream, but duty calls." Shortly after, she abandoned the lamp to tend to one of their bags, particularly the hefty. As she began pulling out random materials, Soleil slowly brought herself up, eyes widening. When their eyes met again, Nina dropped a brow. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

Soleil jumped.

"H-Heh... Do I?" She looked away. "I must be tired."

"Whatever you say." Nina's tone clearly didn't buy a word she said, but she carried on with her work inside the bag anyway. While hiding in the cover of Nina's blind spot, Soleil cringed. She clutched her head, teeth gritting as she imprisoned a sigh.

A dream was all it was.

She should have known better than to let dreams get the best of her emotions.

When Nina was finished in the bag, she had a bundle of tools: the sheet and mirror they bought in Izumo, a box of hairpins, a thick string of rope, two dark pieces of clothing, and plenty of arrows to go along with her bow. When the equipment hit the ground in the center of their camp, Soleil eyed Nina strangely. She opened her mouth as she watched the other begin to undo the latches that kept her satchels adorned on her hip. Because of what valuable things they stored, seldom had she ever removed those satchels during the journey, even when she slept.

"Why're you taking those off?" Soleil inquired. One divorced from Nina, so she threw it into one of the bags.

"As a precaution," she replied. "The money's in that one, and loose coins can be pretty noisy when they're clinking against each other in a quiet room." She stripped herself of another. "The map, compass, and pocket watch are in this one." It landed in the bag as well.

"Maps aren't noisy," Soleil pointed out.

"True..." Nina replied thoughtfully. She glanced at the girl grimly. "But if something happens to me while we're in the fort, I'd hate for you to be without a way to navigate yourself around the continent. That's why I think we should leave everything we don't need here. Just in case."

While bringing herself to her feet, Soleil stretched with a groan.

"I can't believe I almost forgot you were a pessimist."

"Try realist."

"Pessimist."

"Realist."

"Pessimist."

"Realist."

"Pessimist."

In the wake of their disagreement, Nina scowled and narrowed her eyes. She scoffed before long, and she went to retrieve the two cloaks laying on the ground.

"We don't have the time for these immature arguments right now," she muttered while tossing Soleil her disguise. With ease, she caught it, and she promptly proceeded to become one with the night, leaving only her ankles and feet exposed. She pat her hip to make sure her kodachi was present. She fidgeted in attempt to ease her worries. It was in vain, and Nina quickly caught on. After also slipping into her dark clothing, Nina crossed her arms. Her eyes gazed at her partner intensely. "Alright, before we head out, I think we need to lay out some rules."

"Sounds reasonable..."

"Up until now, you've been calling me the leader, so I expect you to treat me like one. Whatever I tell you to do is what you'll do, got it?"

"Even if it's someth-"

"Even if it's something you don't want to do. You have to trust me on this, Soleil. Am I clear?" What stuck out the most to Soleil was the intensity in Nina's eyes. Nina seemed to be far better than Soleil when it came to hiding her emotions, but that did not mean she could mask them entirely. Deep in the pits of Nina's lush green eyes, Soleil found a fear that was equal to her own. She had not lost her confidence... had she?

"N-Nina..."

"I know what I'm doing. I may look scared, but that's only because I know what's on the line. That's okay. It sharpens my senses." From the only fanny pack left on her hip, she withdrew her notebook, which she popped open. It landed precisely on the page she wanted: the page containing a large, intricate blueprint of the entire fort. Arrows, which detailed the fort's patrols, circled around the exterior. On the fort's rear, there was a maze. "Here's our plan." Her finger jabbed the entrance of the fort. "There'll be at least two or three guards posted at the gate. I can get past them unnoticed. You can't. This is our only way in."

Soleil's eyes widened.

"W-Wait... You aren't saying you're...?"

"I'm not going in alone for too long. What I'll do is go on ahead of you." The finger pointed at the flank of the fort. "You'll wait for me here. Once I'm on top of the wall, I'll drop the rope down so you can climb up."

"Will you be able to hold me up while I'm climbing? I'm uh... not exactly a feather, you know..."

"There're no other options, so we'll have to do what we can. Speaking of what we're doing..." She directed Soleil's attention to the blank space within the illustrated fortress' walls. "All I want to get is the inside of the fort. That's it. Once I have a good sketch, we're leaving. If we come across anything noteworthy, we'll-"

"What would you consider noteworthy?"

Taking little liking to being interrupted (despite being quite the interrupter herself), Nina's expression dropped.

"I don't know. Maybe a war council tent? Just whatever can give the army the upper hand, like maps, letters, rosters..." She took a step back, motioning for her partner to follow. "My point is that I don't want us to be in there for long. We'll take whatever seems important only if we find it on accident." Without waiting for an answer, she began to depart from camp. "You can turn the lamp off. We probably won't be back until the sun rises."

After extinguishing the lamp with a quick breath, Soleil hid their extra belongings in the bushes, hoping a wanderer would not stumble upon them. In the darkness, she followed quickly after her leader, a task she found to be slightly more difficult than she anticipated. The heavy material of her cloak made many friends with the thorns and vines teeming in the woods, and the two friends did not wish to depart from one another. She had no sympathy for either of them. The most she cared about was Nina.

How afraid she was for her.

All those months ago, when she begged Corrin for the opportunity to journey with Nina, she never anticipated things to become so... tense. She found comfort in Nina's sense of confidence. That confidence had disappeared, and Soleil was too afraid to ask where it had gone. Or was Nina always like that before a heist? She only saw Nina during a heist once, and that was a long way away, in a fancy villa. Nina was the army's enemy then, and she did seem quite tense as she attempted to make a run for it... likely because she had been caught, by an army no less.

Twenty minutes finally landed them before a clearing. In the midst of it stood the powerful Fort Jinya, whose sides were decorated with warm torches. Before departing from the bramble, the two crouched, hiding in what little security they had left.

"A few more rules," Nina announced. It was the first she had spoken since their trip to the fort began. To suddenly hear her voice again startled her neighbor, who blinked and turned to the side.

"Okay..."

"If it's possible, we need to avoid conflict at all costs, even if we're being chased. Breaking in a fort is one thing, but killing one of the soldiers is another... We'll definitely have a lot of people out for our heads if that happens."

But Soleil knew her kodachi thirsted for blood, particularly Hoshidan blood. The blood of any who would come against them. The blood of any who would mean them harm. Soleil would never find it within her to shed mercy upon such a foe... unless Nina asked, which she did. For Nina's sake, she suppressed her urges with her all.

"I'll do what I can," she muttered quietly. "You probably know what's best when it comes to this kind of stuff..."

"Corrin chose me for a reason. Follow my orders and I promise everything'll turn out okay." Nina started to depart from the bramble. When Soleil prepared to follow, Nina's palm roughly met her chest. Against her, Soleil could feel her partner's hand quiver with fury. "Stay here and wait for my signal. I'll appear on the western flank."

"W-Wait..." Soleil grabbed her wrist urgently after Nina proceeded once again. Frustrated, Nina turned back around.

"What?"

"U-Um..." She attempted to think of an excuse. Any excuse. Any excuse that would justify keeping her from that fort just a little bit longer. Anything that would give her peace of mind. "Which wall is the western one?"

Nina pointed to the wall that stood directly in front of them.

"That one, you dummy. You wouldn't see the signal if I went to any other side."

"Oh, right. That's right." Her eyes lazily wandered to the side. She could not watch Nina walk away, otherwise she likely would have lunged at her again. What she'd give to wrap her arms around her legs and drag her all the way back to camp... "Good luck... Be careful."

"I will."

Before she knew it, the night swallowed Nina whole. Or did Nina consummate with the night? She and the night were awful good pals after all, so the latter would make the most sense. Soleil could only place her faith in the night, hoping it loved her enough in return to keep her hidden.

It felt like forever.

Forever, it seemed, Soleil sat in the bushes, eyes staring intently at the wall. The only time she took her eyes off of it was when she felt a little critter crawling on her leg, which she promptly flicked away. She felt tempted to play around with it to remedy the wait, but she knew better. She knew better than to take her eyes off that wall for long. Too much was at stake.

Luckily, her eye kept on that wall, just as she swore she would. Sooner than she anticipated, a flash caught her attention. It was unknown how such a light was produced, but she knew for certain it was Nina's signal. A line fell over the side of the fort, and it waited to assist her. Without a second thought, Soleil scrambled to her feet, dusted herself off, and took her leave from her cover. Into the fray was she to venture, but she faced the problem with a glint of stubborn confidence... which was shaky, but confident nonetheless.

The closer she drew to the edifice, the more it became clear that the line was indeed a rope. She gripped it the moment she had a chance, and she gave it a good tug to test its sturdiness. The sudden weight spooked Nina, who had coiled the rope's other end around her waist. After checking her surroundings, she cleared her throat and peered down.

"Hurry up!" left her lips quietly. It was unknown to her if Soleil got the message, but she did seem to follow her orders. Without the burden of a heavy pack weighing her down, Soleil scaled the rope without too many qualms. Whatever qualms she had were due mostly in part to Nina, who lacked in strength. Once or twice, Soleil's weight became a challenge to support. Out of defiance, however, she angrily furrowed her brows, cussed at her weakness, and planted her feet in the ground the best she could. The process continued until a familiar palm slapped the surface of the wall walk, and once she was sure that hand had its grip, Nina at last allowed herself to relax.

"Whew. Glad you could keep me up after all," breathed the new arrival after rolling onto her back. While bundling the rope back into a tidy coil, Nina grimaced.

"You sure aren't a feather."

"Told you so."

"I never said you didn't."

"Still told you."

"Yeah, yeah..." Nina shoved the rope into Soleil's hands once she was back on her feet. "If everything else tonight goes this well, we should be alright."

A taste of victory, even if it were a small drop, gave Soleil the comfort she needed. Optimism, as it tended to, returned to her face, and she happily pranced at Nina's side. Nina scolded her for making too much noise not too long into her brief parade, so she stopped.

The two toured the wall walk for the time being, as it was the most comfortable part of the fort. Additionally, it overlooked all of the fort's insides, including its many structures and divisions. Nina stole the moment to jot down what she could make out. In the meantime, with tense shoulders, Soleil constantly surveyed the area, an itchy hand babysitting the blade on her hip. Nina would not have liked to know Soleil kept violence as a close solution to any confrontations, so the matter was kept hidden. Besides, it was important that a charcoal pencil was manipulated by a confident, relaxed hand.

It became apparent that Nina was finished when she eased her notebook shut.

"I'm done with this side," Nina announced. She turned to her right, where a torch could be seen burning in the distance. Where there was a torch, there was a guard who carried it, and he patrolled the wall walk just like them. "We'll need to hit the northern, southern, and eastern sides of the walls too if I'm going to get a complete sketch of this place."

"Too bad we can't just walk around up here to get to those sides," Soleil commented, eyes maintaining their watch on the distant guard. It was he that kept her attention for the most amount of time, but he had not moved. Not even once. He seemed glued to his post like a statue. There was no way they could get past him without stirring up some kind of drama, at least not on the wall walk.

"That just means we'll have to cross through the fort," Nina mused. "I'm not familiar with the patrol routes, so while we're down there, we need to keep close to make sure nothing goes wrong."

A lecherous grin could not keep from Soleil's face for long.

"Oh ho, you know I don't have a problem with keeping close to you..."

To their chagrin, they found the interior of the fort far more guarded than the outside. Far more guarded than even Nina expected, in fact. More than once, when they emerged from the shadows of an alley, they nearly walked into the light of a patrol. Nina was hesitant to employ her mirror to spy beyond any corners. If another patrol came along, the light would surely reflect off the glass and create a blinding light. A light so bright was what she used to signal to Soleil at the beginning of their heist, so it could most definitely signal to guards as well.

"Hot damn. What's with all the security in here?" Nina grumbled after watching the back of the umpteenth patrol leave the vicinity of their hiding place. "It's nothing like the outside. I had a feeling the inside would be more guarded, but nothing like this..."

In spite of the threat of being captured, which was uncomfortably imminent, the two continued to sneak their way through the mazes of levees and tents. An empty tent offered them shelter from a surprise patrol, and they graciously accepted its hospitality. While inside, Nina proceeded to rummage, and Soleil nervously kept watch over the entrance flap. Some things caught Nina's interest: a few maps nested in a cabinet of cubbies, some of which had distinct routes. She snatched them without a second thought, shoved them in her pack, and beckoned for her partner to follow her back into the darkness.

They almost threw the flap open to another patrol, but they narrowly escaped their suspicion by rushing back into the tent and hiding beneath the nearest thing they could find, which would be a table. Once they were sure the coast was clear, they departed and swiftly made a beeline for the nearest place of sanctuary.

It took doing, but the two eventually found themselves a flight of stairs at took them back to the wall walk. The stationary guard was to their left, which meant they had successfully made it directly across the fort. Nina commended their work, especially after having little to nothing that helped them navigate. Using what little light was provided by a full moon, she proceeded to scribble again.

"Are things normally this tense on nights like these?" Soleil asked after noticing her shoulders were stiff enough to make her head sore.

"No. I don't usually go around picking fights with armies." Nina sounded distant, for she was much too wrapped up in her work... which made sense. The sooner she finished, the sooner they could leave.

"What're we doing here anyways? I don't remember hearing Lord Corrin say he wanted any work done in some silly little fort."

"True, but he left the ultimate judgment to me. He said I should get whatever I think will be useful, and this'll definitely be useful. If the army can capture this place, it'll be an invaluable asset. Think of it like wedging your foot somewhere... you won't be able to move much, but you'll have plenty of time to recollect yourself for your next move."

"Sheesh, I don't know squat about all this strategy mumbo jumbo."

"That seems to be only one of many things you don't know squat about."

"Was that a jab at me?"

"Maybe."

"Heh. Good. That just means I'm allowed to jab back now."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

At the northern wall, Nina continued. It was amazing how, with time, Soleil felt her uneasiness melt away. Her shoulders gradually unknotted, and her brows relaxed. The faint smile on her lips grew in prominence. It was nothing short of Nina's work... or, rather, Nina's magic. What that girl could do was nothing short of magic. Her intuition. Her clairvoyance. Her cunningness. Truly, Soleil could see why Corrin wanted to entrust such a mission in the hands of Nina, a guru of sneakiness.

As a side effect, Soleil became a bit too comfortable.

"So, Nina..."

"Uh-huh..." Again, like before, she sounded disengaged, but Soleil knew she listened.

"I was thinking. When we get back to camp, would it be possible for us to... um... talk, maybe?"

"Assuming we aren't exhausted by the time we get back."

"Yeah. Of course. I mean, I don't think it would be a long conversation or anything, but... uh..."

"You don't stammer that much unless you're wanting to talk about what I said we won't talk about... at least not until we're done here."

Soleil paused.

She should've seen it coming. Of course Nina was going to read her like an open book. She was unrealistically good at those sorts of things... too good, in some instances... much like now.

Defeated, Soleil sighed, and her head dropped.

"Right..."

"We'll discuss it eventually," her companion reassured. "I wouldn't be comfortable leaving it as it is either."

She was not as disappointed as she was before, not in the wake of such good news. It gave her all the spunk she needed to maintain the jump in her step behind Nina. Unbeknownst to her, the hairs on the back of her neck were raising. They rose much to high much too quickly, and Nina did not like the feeling.

Perhaps it was for a good reason; not too far away from them, in the center of the fort's largest tent, there was a man. The particular man sat himself upon a pillow, a long smoking pipe hanging out of his mouth. When he eased the end from between his lips, a soldier approached him. The soldier was a man worth reckoning, for his uniform was unlike those around him, and the flags adorned on his back were lofty and colorful. With a stern expression, he placed one thing on the table before the smoking man: a sheet of paper tattooed by charcoal.

"Chief Tactician Yukimura, pardon my tardiness, but this has come to my attention."

The man, dubbed Yukimura, lifted a brow as he took another breath of his tobacco, which promptly exited his mouth in the form of a thin cloud of smoke.

"There's no need to apologize. Getting appointments with me has been rather tedious as of late with all that's been going on in the south. Now..." His fingers prodded the paper carefully, and it slid it closer to his view. He fixed his glasses and carefully studied it. "What is this?"

"It was found just outside the fort last night, sir. Judging by the media used to make the drawings, I can best assume the artist is Nohrian."

"Quite so, but..." Yukimura paused to squint at the mess of doodles, particularly at what was distinctly a puppy dog licking a kitten. The man drawn in the corner of the page, however, bought his attention the most. The illustrated man was a dancer, but his clothes did not seem to fit his occupation; he wore the thick leather hide of a Nohrian soldier. "These drawings are rather... childish."

"Yes sir, but with the desperation facing the Nohrian faction in the south, it's reasonable to suppose they've sent espionage units to gather information. Only a foolish Nohrian would venture this deep into the motherland during war. As a precaution, I've doubled the patrols for tonight."

After closing his eyes, Yukimura nodded slowly. Another puff of smoke calmed his nerves.

"Your assumptions are reasonable indeed," he murmured, placing his eye on the Nohrian soldier on the page once more. "For the next three nights, it would be wise to use more than the prescribed amount of lantern oil. This fortress needs to stay very bright so that these spies, or spy, would not dare to consider infiltration. In the meantime, ready a convoy to be sent to the capital. We will definitely be in need of supplies once those three nights are over."

"I will enact all you have commanded, sir. Good night." Without a word more, the decorated soldier presented a steep, humble bow and took his leave from the tent. Such left Yukimura in peace to continue smoking as he studied the drawings further.

While en route to their final destination, the southern wall, Nina and Soleil caught on to the effects of such a conversation. Nina was the first to notice the interior of the fort began to gradually grow brighter, and it made the edges of her teeth ghost over her bottom lip. Soon enough, when Soleil noticed too, those teeth began to gnaw on her lip instead. They could see their surroundings much better than before, but it came at a price: the risk of being seen as well.

Moments after realizing what happened, Nina took Soleil by the wrist and urgently drug her to the nearest, and darkest, corner she could scout. There they nestled, seeking refuge behind crates of supplies. Soleil's eyes were wide the entire time, and when she turned to look at her partner, she found a face that did not comfort her. It was a face identical to the one she wore in Izumo just moments before they embarked on a chase throughout the city.

"N-Nina...?" she stammered. "What's happening?"

"Something's caused them to want to brighten the place up. Geez, they must be trying to make this place a second sun..." Nina responded coolly. On the inside, she teetered on the edge of losing that coolness.

"I don't remember it being this bright all those nights we were watching from the outside."

"You're right. Something's different about tonight. Dammit, of all the nights. Of all the damned nights..."

Soleil ebbed closer to her partner, assuming such a thing were possible.

"What does that mean for us?"

"Were stuck here until there's a window in the patrols." She retrieved the small mirror from one of her pouches, then proceeded to raise it above her head. With her back against the crate, the mirror's face carefully peeked over the crate's surface. It quickly dove back down the moment Nina had a proper picture. "Be quiet."

Soleil held her breath, and it whetted her senses to a degree she never fathomed to be possible. She could hear each heartbeat. Every tremble of her nervous muscles. Every footstep of their enemy, which drew closer and closer to their hiding place. Solace graced her in the form of Nina's hand, which ghosted over the top of her own. Seconds after she received a tight squeeze, Soleil found peace. Before she knew it, the footsteps passed them, never to suspect a single thing.

"Things were going pretty smoothly," Nina announced softly. It must have been safe to talk now, Soleil figured, but she let Nina finish. "But thanks to this curveball, we don't have the room to be as lax as we were. Our top priority is just getting the hell out of here. We have two choices: one, we take our time and find places to hide on the way to an exit, or two, we make a break for it. When I say make a break for it, I mean run. Run like you've never ran before."

"Wh-Which option's b-better?" Soleil scolded herself mentally for sounding so frightened. Being frightened was totally not cool.

"They're both equally risky. If we stay here too long looking for hiding places, we're more likely to get caught, and if we make a run for it... Well, we'd be pretty lucky if we didn't stir up some kind of attention."

"Please just pick for me."

"I can do either one, Soleil. I want you to decide because only you know what you can do the best. If you don't think you have it in you to sprint like a wild bear is chasing you, don't even bother trying."

"Oh Nina, I have enough adrenaline to o-outrun Charlotte when sh-she's as mad as the time I asked her out on a d-date."

"That's pretty fast."

"Uh-huh."

"So it's the second option, then."

"S-Sure."

"Alright." She lifted the mirror again. Judging by her reaction, the coast was clear for the time being, but it was certain that it would not stay clear for long. In spite of such news, Nina did not prompt for either of them to sprint out of their comfort zone. No. Instead, she simply set the glass back in her lap. Through her nostrils, she took a deep, deep breath. Soleil watched in awe. When she thought Nina's chest could not possibly hold any air more, Nina only surprised her by continuing. When Nina stopped, she held it in for as long as she could, and when she did finally release it, she released it gradually. It took an entire minute for her chest to return to its normal elevation. In the aftermath of the action, she closed her eyes and allowed her lips to part. "I want you to do exactly as I did, Soleil."

Soleil copied her without any backtalk, even if she did not do it as smoothly. Nina caught on to such a detail, so when Soleil was finished, she told her to do it again, but slower. She felt lightheaded after the second time, but, at the same time, oddly refreshed.

"What was that for?"

"To clear your mind. Don't think about anything else but following me. Once we're out of hiding, I can't stress how important it is that you obey every thing I tell you to do."

"Right..." Soleil replied as Nina's hand crept once more onto hers. They remained still, anxiously gripping the other's hand.

And then, with her free hand, Nina returned the mirror to its place above her, and she peered into its reflection. All was well at the moment.

"Are you ready?" she inquired. Deep down, Soleil was nowhere near ready, but she knew the issue had to be dealt with very, very soon. Too soon. Even so, she clamped her eyes shut and yielded a painful nod. "Alright, let's go. Don't stop. Ever."

They flew from their hiding place like eagles, powerfully flapping their wings. With nothing to weigh them down, like bags, they tore through the brick ground beneath them at a speed that even frightened them. Of course, such a spectacle could not go unnoticed for long; when they encountered a fork in the road, Nina insistently led them down what she believed was the proper direction. Being rejected made the other direction unfathomably envious, and it conspired to take its revenge by sending two guards after them. It was too soon for Nina's liking, so she released the umpteenth swear.

"Don't let them slow you down!" she exclaimed to her partner, who trailed behind closely.

Soleil would have told her that the guards had the opposite effect on her, but she salvaged no spare breath to speak. Never before had she ran with such fury. Her lungs ached with pains from training sessions. Her legs felt as though they caught fire. Her mind was no longer governed by rationality; it was governed by impulse.

Like a pair of celebrities, the two earned themselves quite the following. Guards shouted at one another, alerting their comrades that their enemies had arrived. Gongs rang in the distance. The sounds of angered Hoshidans howled behind them, clawing at their ankles like a hungry pit from Hell. As more joined in on the chase, Nina grew worried. She was familiar with that gut-wrenching feeling, for she had felt it before. Seemingly ages ago, in the heart of an expensive villa, she felt that feeling. At the head of that awful feeling was none other than her father, who was followed by an entire army, all armed and sapped dry of mercy. Not too long after that feeling arose, she found herself caught, humiliated, and defeated. As one who respected her intuition, she began to formulate possible detours that would still ultimately purchase their victory.

The nuclear option had to be taken.

Once they reached the wall walk, their paparazzi not too far behind, Nina slowed and, without a second to waste, whipped around to face Soleil. Such caused Soleil to widen her eyes as she skidded to a halt, almost running into her leader.

"We don't have much time, so listen to me. There's way more security in here than I bargained for. They'll chase us into the woods if we both go down there together, and that's a chase we're bound to eventually lose."

Soleil, anxious, allowed her eyes to dart down at the ground level, where she found the mass covering ground after them.

"Wh-What're you saying?" she asked after turning back to her.

"I'm saying we need to split up! Jump down there and head straight for the woods. Don't stop once you're in there. Don't hide. Just run. Keep running. If everything works out the way I want it to, they won't follow you for too long."

Baffled, Soleil's lips gaped.

"What about you?"

"I'm staying here! I know how to get someone off my tail, but you don't! I'll buy enough time for you to get away!" As she spoke, she dug out her journal from her pouch, and she promptly shoved it down the front of Soleil's tunic. Both checked on their pursuers again: still closer, and their size grew. A sight so terrifying forced Nina's face back to Soleil, burning with force. "Go! Now! I'll meet you back at camp!"

"No! I'm not going!" Soleil responded. "It's my job to protect you, so that's what I'm going to do!"

For just a moment, she fooled herself into believing Nina would admit her plans, but Soleil could be quite gullible at times. From disbelief, Nina's face morphed into anger. No, it was rage. Never before had Soleil seen such a expression on her friend.

"Soleil..." she sneered. "You damned..." Without a word more, she shoved Soleil with all the force she could muster. Her strength alone would not have been enough to steal Soleil's balance, but the element of surprise was on Nina's side. After teetering around in vain, Soleil began to plummet from the top of the fort's wall, but, by sheer luck, some of her grappling fingers caught hold of the wall's edge. As though her life depended on it, Soleil clung to that edge, and tears welled in her worried eyes.

"Nina, please! Please, please, don't do thi-" Nina's feet stomped on her measly fingers, and she released a howl. Even that, however, would not allow her grip to falter, but a second stomp... That certainly did the trick. When they lost all feeling, her fingers had no choice but to let go. Screaming, Soleil plunged down the exterior of the fortress, scraping against it once or twice when she got too close. She attempted to land on her feet, but it was a fool's endeavor. In fact, it earned her a twisted ankle, which crippled her the moment she landed.

Frantically, Soleil's eyes searched for her partner as she crawled her way away from the edifice. The more distance she gathered, the more she could properly see: Nina remained on the wall walk, running the fastest her feet could take her. Behind her rushed a mob armed with torches, katanas, and naginatas. Watching Nina would do her no good, Soleil realized, and the most she could do was stumble back into the bramble. Her ankle, now freshly twisted, hindered her, but, with all her might, she shoved the painful sensations aside and made her way into hiding.

Left behind, alone to deal with the fray, Nina could finally employ the agility tucked snugly up her sleeve. She clung to the nearest flagpole like a lover, and she effortlessly scaled her way to its top, confident her disappearance would be unnoticed. Unnoticed it was indeed, for, while hidden in the darkness of the sky, the band of angered guards swept past her like a current. She was sure she had won, otherwise a smirk would not have spread across her lips...

Until she felt something lodge into the side of her back. Like Soleil, she roared in response to the pain. Instinctually, her grip on the pole faltered, but before she could hit the surface of the wall walk, she grabbed the shaft again. She could not hang on for too long, unfortunately, for her hands suffered from painful burns and the occasional splinter. Having been forced to let go again, she plummeted off the side of the wall, no matter her efforts to scramble her way back onto the wall walk. Once again, she found herself trapped inside the fortress. Unlike Soleil, Nina was dexterous enough to successfully land on her feet without twisting an ankle, but the shock jolting up her shins did not feel any better than twisting an ankle. Weakened, Nina stood still, panting nervously, hands quaking, heart pounding.

"So an archer saw me," she thought worriedly to herself after realizing the pain in her back was from an arrow. It did not lodge too deep into her skin, but it was deep enough to cause worry. "All I can hope for is that the arrow wasn't coated in any type of poison..."

Silly Nina, who had hope. She was supposed to be the realist, not the optimist. She only had suspected such a thing because it was the most likely scenario. Unfortunately, she was correct; after being shot by the arrow, she felt a definite shortage of breath and energy. Whatever poison coated that arrow, it slowed her tremendously. Her legs felt heavy and squishy like gelatin, and her lungs were ready to pop. With such in addition to the unbearable pain she felt all over her body, she was almost entirely encumbered.

One last trick from the Hoshidans did her in: as she sprinted the best she could down a welcoming corridor, looking for a place to hide, one wrong step ensnared her in a trap. A rope hugged one of her ankles tightly, perhaps too tight, and yanked her into the air. With a yelp, Nina felt her body turned upside down. She began to panic, realizing what had happened, and her hand instantly darted to the knife strapped to her thigh. However, when she commanded for her belly to pull her upper body up to the rope that suspended her, her muscles refused to work. Numbness was all she felt in her abdomen, and she had little control.

"No, no, no..." she muttered to herself before trying to pull herself up again. It was to no avail. "Gods, please no." She hoped that, perhaps, her arm could extend long enough to reach the rope. If only she could get that blade to that rope. If only! Freedom would be all hers...

There was no point in hoping.

Footsteps caught her attention, and she nervously searched for the source, which she found not too long afterward. Easing nearer was a middle-aged man, his chin littered with prickles. Two round, sophisticated reading glasses covered his eyes, and the glare from a nearby light made those glasses shine. Behind him trailed plenty of Nina's pursuers, armed and prepared to protect him.

Just her luck: she was already face-to-face with the fort's head honcho.

"You didn't put up much of a chase, visitor," muttered the man in charge.

"Stay back!" Nina sneered as though her words would provide any assistance.

"Hm. A feisty one." The man paused when their faces were a mere breath away from the other. Of course, being held upside down, Nina could not make the most proper of analyses. The bridge of her nose wrinkled at her captor. She fought to contain the spit in her mouth. Satisfied with himself, the man smiled, and his eyes slid to the side. "I'd hate for you to keep that rotten attitude when we take you in for questioning..."