"You know who this is. We need to talk. Tomorrow night, where it all began. Time of second watch rotation."
"…second watch rotation?" Emerald asked, folding her arms across her chest. "Is that a White Fang thing?"
Cinnamon nodded as she turned off her scroll, holding the device as she rested her arms atop the metal railing around the perimeter of the rooftop.
"Midnight," the woman answered with a nod.
Cinnamon's chin-length dreadlocks blew in the wind as she looked out over the city of Mantle from atop one of its many taverns. Somehow, there seemed to be more light down on the streets than during the day. The neon signs, security lamps, and glowing windows were a familiar sight to the faunus, as were the bright-red pipes jutting up from the streets that provided heat to the sprawling city. Mantle had changed precious little in her time away, and yet, she knew that within days, the city could become totally unrecognizable.
What she didn't know was the specifics of how, and that notion filled her with an uneasy feeling.
"So… what are we going to do?" Emerald asked as she joined Cinnamon's side at the railing.
The older woman blew out a breath through her nose, creating a small plume of mist in the frigid air.
"We? If what little I've heard about your exploits at Beacon is correct, Sun won't be happy to see you tomorrow night. Amitola isn't stupid enough to come alone."
"Yeah?" Emerald asked, her tone turning confrontational. "I'd hope that you aren't, either. I don't really care what they have to say about the past. Things have changed, and they don't know why I threw in with Salem to begin with. I've been questioning if I even belong in her army since the Vytal festival, and if they won't even at least hear me out… then I won't belong in theirs, either. I'll find somewhere else to go."
"And you're assuming that's what this is?" Cinnamon replied, giving her companion a skeptical look. "An open invitation to just walk over to the other side? Even if it is… there will be strings. There may be arrests made. This is less a bid for freedom, and more a roll of the dice made in front of us. We're now also forced to roll, without having any idea whether ours will beat theirs. I do have to hand it to Sun and his crew… they have little to lose making this move. We could potentially lose everything."
Emerald couldn't help but chuckle softly to herself as she, too became preoccupied with the nightlife of Mantle below.
"Forcing us into a corner and making us dodge to one side. The wrong direction might get us killed… and yet we're the bad guys."
"Don't get cute," Cinnamon scolded as she rolled her eyes. "We are. To some extent, at least. Might as well admit it, now that we're nearing the end of things."
Emerald paused and focused upon one particular pedestrian- an older man carrying a shopping bag as he walked down the street alone. He was perfect target for a quick pickpocketing between streetlights. Exactly the kind of person she could rob blind without bothering to engage her semblance before slipping away into the night. Marking potential targets and having knowledge of any particular venue had always brought Emerald a twisted sense of comfort when surveying a new area. As she flicked her eyes to the next solitary civilian, though, she realized that she felt absolutely nothing.
"The end of things," Emerald echoed. "You really think it's going to get to that point?"
"You don't?" Cinnamon asked, keeping her eyes on the cobblestone road below.
"…I never said that. It's just… tonight, you seem so… defeated. You usually strut around like you own every place you enter. I'm not used to seeing this side of you."
Cinnamon considered the accusation in silence. After a moment, she climbed atop the railing and sat down, letting her legs hang over the edge.
"Not defeated," she denied. "More… frustrated and resigned to the hand we've been dealt. We're seeing the first domino start to tip forward. Breaking the pattern in the middle of a collapse won't be easy."
"But it's not impossible," Emerald reminded. "At least… I don't believe it is. Salem's been watching and waiting for this long. She could have made her move for the past several centuries, or probably longer. The fact that she hasn't tells me that there is a way to resist effectively, and she's aware of it."
"You say that like it's a good thing," Cinnamon mocked. "No matter what the truth of the matter is, she needs to be stopped. She's partially responsible for taking away the one thing I want more than anything else in life."
"…please don't say power," Emerald replied with a hint of annoyance.
"Control. The same thing you've been after, or so it seems."
Emerald tensed, the cool night air suddenly cutting straight through her white leather jacket and prickling against her skin.
"…what's that supposed to mean?"
"My entire life, I've been a slave to circumstances beyond my control," Cinnamon began. "Tied to a desperate career of selling myself to keep my father alive. Kept under the Schnee thumb and within their cycle of exploitation to afford his medication, and eventually, left without anything substantial after his death. I was jerked back and forth within the White Fang, too, until I decided to take control of Adam by targeting his weakness- his ego. For a while, I thought I'd done it- played both sides, set up his downfall, and nearly wiped the board of anyone who could stand in my way. I did, really… but Adam is getting the last laugh."
"His deal with Salem," Emerald acknowledged. "Cinder forced his loyalty, and the loyalty of the White Fang at large. I'm surprised you didn't know ahead of time."
"I did know," Cinnamon corrected. "But I didn't understand. I had no idea who she was, or what it all meant. I just knew that he had incurred a debt, and I was naïve enough to assume it had cleared with his debt. I… got too confident in my role as a manipulator. Instead of what I assumed, I'm footing the bill, and stuck back in a current I can't escape. Amitola is offering a branch from the shore… but whether or not that offer is sincere, or strong enough, remains to be seen."
"In that case… you're right," Emerald agreed. "I went with Cinder to find some sort of path for myself. It was a choice I thought I was making all on my own, but I didn't see what was waiting behind it. Ever since, I've been just… floating along, carrying out orders and agreeing with them without thinking. Over time, I did start to think, and I didn't like the conclusions I came to. Seeing Cinder strung up like that was the breaking point…"
"And she was strung up for daring to take control when it wasn't safe to do so," Cinnamon pointed out. "It seems to be a pattern- strike out on your own too early, and you tend to pay for it. Maybe the only way to avoid a fate like that is to rely on strength in numbers…"
"Is that your way of saying you want me to stick around?" Emerald taunted as she leaned backward into the railing and gave the faunus a sidelong glance.
"Not just you," Cinnamon clarified. "Two won't be enough. "If Amitola really is putting an offer on the table… I may be forced to take it, whether I like it or not. If she isn't, well, we're sitting on enough dust to ruin someone's day. That idea of just running isn't sounding so bad anymore..."
"And what about the idea of biding our time until we figure out what Watts is doing?" Emerald asked.
Cinnamon shook her head and trained her gaze upward to Atlas. The floating city cast a great shadow over the one below, darkening the already oppressive winter night.
"We don't have time. Every time either of us unlocks our scrolls, we're taking a massive risk. He was already suspicious of you, and I'm sure he doesn't quite trust me. We also know that he's transporting grimm. They're likely ready to strike if we dare make a move against him."
"Our potential future allies would say it's a risk worth taking," Emerald pointed out. "Of course, they'd be idiots for making the attempt. Even I don't fully know what Watts is capable of."
"Which is why he's a bear I don't particularly want to poke," Cinnamon explained. "If you're tagging along, then we get out tomorrow night, one way or another. Take whatever we can and make our move."
"…I'm not tagging along," Emerald snapped. "I'm just as much in control of whatever happens tomorrow as you are. You may be full of righteous anger, but I've been putting up with all of this for longer. Don't forget that without me, you wouldn't even have had the chance to get this far in your little rebellion."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," Cinnamon praised as she swung her leg back over the railing. Her combat boot hit the surface of the roof with a weighty thump, and within seconds, she had begun to walk for the door leading back into the tavern. "My choices are my own, as are yours to you. I plan to do whatever I think is most beneficial for myself tomorrow… regardless of what you think."
"…I probably should interpret that as a threat," Emerald mused as she followed along. "But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. We both want the same thing, after all."
"That we do…"
"Control," Emerald said confidently.
Cinnamon paused just inside the doorway, lingering at the top of the staircase.
"…in a roundabout way. I was thinking revenge."
"Blake."
"I'll sleep on the train."
Qrow let out a weary sigh and shook his head. He muttered something to himself as he carried a pair of duffel bags down at his sides.
"This isn't a good idea. The forests are thick with grimm, especially at night."
"Then it's a good thing I can see in the dark, so we can avoid them," Blake pointed out as she continued her approach toward the waiting truck.
"Blake, c'mon," Neptune pleaded as he jogged to catch up to his friend. "You need sleep…"
"I'm fine," Blake insisted as she threw open the driver's side door to the vehicle. "You three can get some rest. I'll drive all night, and then, if you want to help, you can carry me to the train station. The more time we waste, the more likely it is that something's gone wrong."
"Besides," Daisuke interrupted as he strode up alongside the truck and pulled open the passenger's side door. "I can also see in the dark. We'll swap halfway there, and then Blake can sleep. Deal?"
"Deal," Blake confirmed with a nod. "We have no reason to make camp. If there are so many grimm, then making ourselves stationary is an even worse idea than speeding through the back roads."
Qrow heaved the duffel bags into the bed of the truck one by one with a pair of grunts and then dusted his hands off against each other. Without hesitation, the man leapt up into the back with his cargo and sat down, drawing his massive sword as he did so.
"Fine. But don't complain to me when you're exhausted. I'm supposed to be looking out for you kids, and your mother would kill me if I let anything happen to you."
"My mother would have insisted we take four motorcycles instead and keep score on who did the most wheelies while slaloming through the trees," Blake replied with a roll of her eyes. "We'll be safe. I promise."
"Gods, I hope so," Neptune muttered as he clambered into the rear of the truck's cabin, taking the back seat for himself. "Do you really think we can make it to Mistral by morning?"
"With the way they teach you to drive in the Fang?" Daisuke asked. "Definitely. But… we may arrive in several pieces."
Blake rolled her eyes as she hopped into the driver's seat and put the key into the ignition. The truck rumbled to life with a series of noises, the front of the vehicle vibrating slightly as it warmed up.
"We'll be fine… and we'll be fast. With any luck, we'll be in range to call Sun once we get on the train. Here's hoping Atlas is as safe as they say it is…"
Author's Note:
Next time- Ruby heads to the resort, and something unstoppable gets set in motion.
-RD