The nighttime air of Mantle was biting cold, to the point that Sun's extra layers barely helped against the frigid atmosphere. Cold seemed to seep through every bit of fabric and made Ghira's pauldron feel heavier than ever. Sun leaned over a heating bar embedded into a concrete wall somewhere in a back alley, rubbing his hands together over the glowing orange rod. Cinnamon stood nearby, her eyes on the entrance of the alleyway in which the two faunus had stopped to warm themselves. Though she kept her back to the boy and the heating implement, Sun couldn't help but look over at her.

"…come warm up. Please?"

"I'm fine," the woman insisted. The grey and white camouflage of her uniform was highlighted orange by the heating rod even at a distance, and the coloration made it easier to see that she was indeed shivering. "Someone has to keep watch."

"You're not fine," Sun insisted as he stood up, his own shoulders quivering. "We've established that. Come on, nobody's looking for us. Let your guard down for a minute. Gives Watts more time to fall asleep and betters our odds."

Cinnamon took a deep breath and turned to walk toward the heater. Her spines flared and flexed as she took in the warmth, while Sun moved to stand beside her while looking out over the alleyway in her stead.

"…maybe you're right. Don't forget about Scarlet, too."

Sun couldn't stop the surge of anger that raced through his chest at the thought of the other boy. He could so clearly see his former teammate's smug grin and condescending narrowed eyes. Where once it had been something to joke about or directed at their opponents, things had become so different since their separation. Things had become personal.

"…what's it been like, working with him?" Sun asked, his tail whipping from side to side both to keep his blood circulating and work out some frustration. "Has he… said anything about why he's really doing all this?"

"He seems like an absolute douchebag," Cinnamon said flippantly. "As for motives… he hasn't said much at all, other than doing it for the lien."

"I still can't believe it's that simple," Sun replied as he folded his arms both for warmth and out of frustration. "We lived together for a year. I mean yeah, he and I weren't as close as I was with Neptune or even Sage, but… you think you know someone, and they're somebody else entirely. You know?"

"…he did say the same thing about you, in regards to leaving the team to pursue Blake," Cinnamon countered. "So, there's that."

"That isn't…" Sun began, growing more frustrated by the second. "…it's not the same. I warned them. I asked them if they could handle things while I was away, and I left because I was scared for her based on what I'd seen of her at Beacon."

"And because you had feelings for her. Or… is that inaccurate?" Cinnamon tried as she rubbed her gloved hands together over the heating bar. "I know little of you and your group before Kuo Kuana, so correct me if I'm wrong."

Sun squirmed and closed his eyes as he made an effort at soul-searching. Though the question was an uncomfortable one, he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed with Cinnamon because deep down, he knew that it was not only awkward, but important to answer honestly.

"I did, yeah," Sun readily admitted. "But if… if Weiss, or Yang, or Jaune, or… if any of my friends had gone through what Blake did during the fall of Beacon and just ran away without talking to us? I'd have gone after them, too. That's just the way I am. Blake chose to have nobody in her corner, so I forced myself into her corner. Maybe it was a little selfish on my part, too, but I was trying to help someone who needed it. Scarlet's trying to hurt everyone while helping only himself. We're not the same, or even similar, and he knows it. If that's the angle he's trying to use… I'll set him straight before this is over."

"I believe you," Cinnamon announced as she stood up straight and moved to join Sun. "In regards to all of that."

"…you do?" Sun asked curiously.

"I do," Cinnamon confirmed. "We may not have been on the 'same side' until now, but I've spoken to both of you enough by now, both together and separately, to understand the bond between you two and how your brain works."

"…what makes you so sure?" Sun asked as he followed the woman out of the alleyway and back onto the sidewalk. "Is it because of Daisuke?"

Cinnamon stopped and turned immediately, her face somewhat pale.

"…what do you know about him?"

"Not much," Sun was quick to say. "Ilia told me he exists, and… that's honestly about it. I know you two are a thing, and that he's apparently been supportive for a long time. I was just wondering if that had something to do with why you think you 'get' me and Blake. Because you have him?"

Cinnamon eyed sun warily, almost as though she was seeing the boy for the first time.

"It has… everything to do with it," Cinnamon replied as she turned and began to walk once again. "You very much remind me of him in some ways, and not at all in others. He's in Kuo Kuana with Kali at the moment, taking my place as High Leader. He was perfectly content to let me do things my way in regards to Salem and coming to Atlas in lieu of handing over the entirety of the Fang to her, but… he's given up his life for me in much the same way you did for Blake. That's part of why I chose to back you up in the weeks leading up to Haven…"

"That, and Ilia, right?" Sun tried.

"Ilia did indeed have something to do with it," Cinnamon confirmed. "I saw a rebellious spark in her alongside her unhappiness with the way Adam was handling things. She… really didn't tell you anything else about Daisuke? Or about me?"

"Nothing I didn't already know," Sun said as he kept pace with Cinnamon. "She said she knew some other stuff, but didn't want to get too deep into it out of respect for you. Ilia's a good friend, and she's continued trying to be a good friend to you, too, despite what happened in Argus. If you two talk and reconcile once we get back… you can rely on her. She might be your best bet at having someone in your corner out here."

"Maybe you're right," Cinnamon considered. "But right now, I just want to focus on the task ahead."

"That's all well and good, but that isn't enough," Sun cautioned. "You also have to think about what you have to come home to afterward. Otherwise, when you let a task become too important, you become blind to who you're affecting while you carry it out. That includes yourself."

"…I see," Cinnamon said as the pair turned a corner on the sidewalk. "That's an… interesting way of looking at things…"

"…right, those are all of the towers I know of," Emerald confirmed as she held Ilia's scroll outward and listened to the list being repeated to her over speakerphone. "And the briefcase is here, in Rust. We'll leave a burning barrel outside as a marker."

"Stay there," Clover insisted over the line. "We'll come pick you up soon and get this sorted out."

"…Clover… we can't do that," Ilia warned. "I have another job that needs doing now."

There was a momentary pause as what sounded like a heavy impact came over the line followed by a second familiar, far rougher voice.

"Ilia Amitola," General Ironwood began, "if you don't remain where you are and keep Emerald in custody, I will consider you to be a liability and move to bring you back to HQ. Nothing you could be doing right now is more important than the safety of Mantle at large. If the towers are indeed compromised, we need you with us to divide and conquer as we figure out what's under threat and how. Do not move from your position."

Ilia took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, the heat of the burning barrel within Cinnamon's old home doing nothing to keep her from shivering.

"…Sun is entrusting me w-"

"I don't care what Sun entrusted you with," General Ironwood interrupted. "He's already in enough trouble as it is. Don't let yourself get dragged down with him."

"…I'll go," Emerald suggested. "Alone. I know where it is, and I can get it done while you stay here."

"Go where, exactly?"

Ilia bit her lip and took a deep breath as she weighed her options.

"…Robyn Hill's headquarters. We were going to head there to finish what Sun and Weiss started earlier in the day. General, I am not trying to turn on you, and neither is Sun. We both know what you warned us about earlier, and we both still trust you to be in charge, but… we might not get this opportunity again. At least let Emerald take care of it, and if it's that important to you, then I'll stay here… but I want your word that nothing will happen to Sun when he returns."

Muffled voices conversed on the other side of the line. The two women could tell that there was an argument going on, but the details were woefully unclear.

"…where's Sun headed?" Clover asked. "Ilia, you can trust me. I promise you."

"That's not reassuring at all," Ilia replied. "I want to, but…"

"Amitola," General Ironwood said aggressively.

"…Cinnamon gave him a lead on the whereabouts of Arthur Watts," Ilia confessed. "I don't know where they're going. Call him if you want more information, but I doubt he'll pick up."

"See? She told us everything she knows," Clover said. "This doesn't have to be us against them. We can still do this together."

Another pause. Ilia looked at Emerald, and the other girl returned her gaze. There was something pointedly familiar in Emerald's eyes, and Ilia recognized the emotions within them immediately.

"… Amitola, get to Robyn's HQ with Emerald. We'll handle the briefcase and the towers, but I need something to pin on her, even if it's tenuous. Do not come back empty-handed. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Crystal," Ilia replied. "I'm sorry. None of this is ideal, I know, but we're trying. Sun and I know you are, too. That's all we can do, right? We're supposedly facing down armageddon, and while I know we aren't exactly close… I want all of us to get through this alive and on the same side. We would've left you out of the loop entirely, otherwise."

"Contacting us shows a great level of trust and willingness to be flexible," Clover pointed out. "Don't you agree?"

"…I do," General Ironwood echoed, "though I can only bend so far before I break. Get going… and one more thing. Get the address of Watts' supposed residence from Sun. Do that for me, and we'll call it even. I want it so I can send backup. No other reason."

Emerald shook her head, and Ilia looked away.

"…consider it done… but don't fuck me on this, Ironwood. Sun is family to me. Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

"Crystal," the man replied. "I will personally guarantee the safety and status of both of you upon your return… but we will have words."

Ilia disconnected the call with a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand while taking back her scroll from Emerald with the other.

"…I want to cry, puke, and piss myself all at once," Ilia said with a shiver. "I don't know if I just saved us or got us all killed."

"I know all of those feelings," Emerald replied as she dragged the flaming barrel over to the door of the house. "Right now, we've got our orders and places to be. Let's move."

"…are you going to be alright?" Ilia asked as she moved to follow Emerald outside.

"Am I going to be alright?" Emerald echoed. "What? You're the one who wants to piss herself."

"And you're more terrified than me," Ilia asserted as the pair broke into a jog through the snow. "I can see it in your eyes, and I've been there, too."

"…you don't know me," Emerald said dismissively as she picked up the pace. "Don't pretend that you do."

"I don't," Ilia agreed as she matched Emerald's speed. "Not yet…"

Author's Note:

Next week… it's time for the most tense meeting of the story yet in Ironwood's office.

-RD