Sienna was shown falling from where Athena tossed her aside.
I need a landing strategy, and fast!
Using her left hand, she unfurled the whip around her right arm and switched the grip to her dominant hand.
Alright, if I can find something to swing down or latch onto, I can stop my fall.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a small water tower on top of an apartment.
Bingo. She spread her arms in and out, as if she was swimming, and felt the grip on her palm become laced with cold sweat. She just needed the right timing to pull this off. She breathed in a few times to calm her racing heart.
After five more seconds of falling, she lassoed the pipe of the railing and hooked the tip of her weapon to it. It was successfully secured, stopping her fall and causing a strain in her right arm as she held on tight. She turned to face the wall, planting her feet on it. Using the chain as a rope, she grunted as she put one arm above the other, along with one foot over the other. As she climbed up the wall, she heard a few voices speaking.
"This is a disaster. Not only have we failed in our objective time and time again, we've lost Daphne." Adam spoke offscreen.
"Do you hear something?" an unfamiliar man asked.
"Sounds like someone in pain." another man said.
"There's a chain on that pipe and I hear footsteps." Ilia told them. "Someone is climbing up here."
"Could it be a Revolutionist?" the first mystery man asked.
"Not likely. It seems that..." Sienna reached the top to see Adam's lieutenant speaking. The chameleon faunus looked at her in surprise. "Sienna?"
The High Leader looked around with her eyes, keeping her head still. She saw two unfamiliar faces, and one that was too familiar for her liking. "Adam?"
Adam looked at her in shock, not responding. He quickly composed himself as Sienna used her anger to move herself forward. The tigress finished her climb up the wall, and upon landing on the rooftop, unhooked her whip. She glared at Adam and hissed between her teeth; "What are you doing here?" The High Leader folded her arms, waiting for his response. "Well?"
"You see High Leader, in the aftermath of the Mistralian Civil War, I was hoping that I could get back the soldiers you reassigned to the dying Loyalist faction and get them back to Vale, but I realize now that is not happening either way."
The tigress raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What would you even need with those soldiers? Beacon Academy is in shambles and the government is too busy undoing your damage to hunt the Valeian Fang down."
"I want to make amends for the events that happened when Vale fell to its knee by creating my own squad of people to stop Athena." Adam lied.
"You attack Beacon Academy, a huntsman academy, and expect me to forgive you, simply because you and I share an enemy in Athena?" He nodded in affirmation. "And why should I believe you?! You have already betrayed me!"
Ilia and Douglas remained calm as Hector squinted in anxiety.
Adam exhaled and responded, "Look, I know that you are angry with me, and you have every right to be, but believe me, I have had time to reflect on the actions I have done." He got to his knees and bowed to her. "I want to atone myself." A moment of silence washed over them, Sienna studying Adam carefully. "And I hate having to say it, but in your current state, you don't stand a chance against Athena alone. She knows you're here now, and will increase her security measures accordingly. Not to mention that she has gained knowledge of how to counter your moves."
Sienna blinked and internally cursed, He's right.
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right." She scowled, wrapping her whip around her right arm. "I'm in no shape to go after her again. Especially by myself."
Ilia looked at her with concerned. "So what happened? How did you get to be climbing up here?"
"Athena dropped me from the sky, believing I'd get injured or die. Fortunately, I came up with a landing strategy by using my whip to stop my descent." She turned to look at the sky before looking at Adam and his allies. "Assuming she's not looking on us from above, she may be onto to us."
"Then perhaps we should move away from here." the lieutenant suggested.
The faunus made their way to the ground and went into the nearest abandoned warehouse.
"Athena shouldn't be able to find or hear us here." Ilia told her.
"That's good. Now that I have a chance to breathe easier, might I ask who these two are?" She pointed to Douglas and Hector.
"Allow me to introduce to you my lieutenant, Douglas." He motioned to the lieutenant. "And this is Ilia's associate, a hired faunus mercenary named Hector."
"So why do we have a hired mercenary in your ranks? And more importantly, why is Ilia here? I thought she was working in Menagerie."
Ilia answered, "I was sent here by Fennec and Corsac to aid Adam when they received news of his journey to Mistral. They also gave me the funds to hire an additional helper since their branch is low on specialist agents and they did not want to risk too many of us falling in battle, whether it be to Grimm or other forces."
"An understandable concern. But why is Hector here? I'm not saying it is a bad thing, but it is most... unusual."
"Well I've never had anyone or anything in my life. I'm what some might refer to as... a street rat. Been kicked out of every orphanage in Menagerie, and there's not too many of them, so that says a lot. Once I turned eighteen, I just put my services as thief and assassin on the market. I was hired by Ilia and so... here we are."
Sienna smiled. "Have you considered joining the White Fang?"
He put his finger to his chin. "I can't say that I have. I've never found a cause worth joining." He let his arms fall at his side. "I just do what I must to survive."
"Well, perhaps if you joined us, you could not only survive, but thrive. Many of my friends and colleagues have benefited from joining this force of revolution."
"I'll think it over." Hector told her. "So what's our next move?"
"That is what we must figure out." Sienna answered.
The camera shifted to the outside of the building. A pair of binoculars was shown looking on the building Adam and company had entered. Unbeknownst to them, Athena watched the scene from above. The winged faunus held the binoculars, attached by a black string, away from her eyes.
"Too many fighters to take on the High Leader single-handed. I'd never get away with it. Always the problem. But why would Adam make an alliance with her after rebelling against her by attacking Beacon?" She put the binoculars around her neck and sighed to empty air. "Looks like if you want answers, you have to find them yourself."
She flew off back towards her fortress.
As the sun had nearly set, Blake and Sun were shown making residence in an abandoned warehouse in Wind Path.
"Alright, we have found the city he's staying at." Sun told her. He yawned. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd suggest we go after him now." The monkeyman noticed his girlfriend with her back to the wall and a book in her hands... "What'ca reading?"
She inserted a slip of white paper meant to act as a bookmark. "It's a book called Slave to the Sword."
"Sounds interesting." He sat down next to her. "What's it about?"
"The story follows two unexpectedly lovestruck protagonists; Kagami Ishimaya and Ashai Yomoto. After running away to escape an arranged marriage, Kagami finds herself unexpectedly becoming a young student at Hidden Garden Academy when Akiko Yamada lies to spare her life. Now she must work hard to prove her place at the hidden ninja academy and learn her new role at the academy. Unfortunately, she has no prior experience of being a ninja and to make matters worse, the nearby village is losing the war between ninjas and samurai."
"So, who are the bad guys here?"
"In this realm, ninjas are bold warriors fighting a rebellious war against the corrupt samurai, who abuse their power and take whatever, and whomever they want."
He raised an eyebrow in alarm. "Oh boy..."
"Indeed. So anyway, Kagami unexpectedly becomes part of this revolution, and once she graduates as a ninja through their two year program in a matter of months, of which she actually has less than a year's worth of experience, she will join the Saki Clan, fighting for peace and freedom."
"So, who exactly is Ashai Yomoto and how does he fit into this?"
"Ashai Yomoto is one of her teachers, and she later on asks for one-on-one lessons to improve her skills. As Kagami has these private lessons with him, they slowly begin falling for each other."
Sun raised an eyebrow, this time in confusion. "Isn't that... like a really big age difference?"
Blake laughed. "Only a twenty year age gap!"
"Are you reading this book for the first time?"
"Em-hmm. It's in a similar vein to Ninjas of Love, although they are not by the same author."
Sun gave her a smile but told her in a slightly disappointed tone... "Blake..."
"What? You already know about my guilty pleasure."
"I guess that's true."
"I'm just glad that my teammates never found my secret stash. If they had, they would have interrogated me to end."
The catwoman looked away sadly and Sun took her hand. "Do you miss them?"
She sighed. "I don't like admitting it, but... I do." Blake turned back to him. "And what about you? Do you miss your teammates, even though you left in better standings?"
"Yeah, I do. I hope they're doing alright. Oh, but what are we, but a bunch of runaways and stowaways?"
Blake giggled. "I'm glad you're here, Sun." She heard Sun snore softly and she saw that he had fallen asleep on her lap. "Sleep peacefully, my ray of sunshine."
Meanwhile, Kali and Ghira had arrived in Wind Path via the train- the same train that Sienna got off at just a few hours ago. As they took in the cool, crisp air, they saw the sun had set, with a few rays of orange painting the sky, clashing between the light blue of day, and the dark blue of the night. They looked at the train section, seeing a ticket vending table that was unoccupied and a similar platform and ticket booth for passengers on the other side. The rails of the train were in between.
Kali looked at the broken moon as it began to rise.
"Is something on your mind, dear?" Ghira asked offscreen, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"A lot actually." Kali answered, turning to look him in the eyes. "You really think we'll find answers here?"
"I don't know," Ghira told her. "but we have to start somewhere."
The train behind them took off and the camera panned up to show the night sky.
The scene transitioned to Kali and Ghira walking through the streets of Wind Path. The former White Fang members walked past a series of apartment buildings.
"Did you hear something?" Kali asked, tensing up.
"No. Why?" Ghira responded.
"I thought I heard footsteps, like a criminal getting away with murder. Or is it possible that I'm scared and hallucinating?"
"Perhaps we should get to the rooftop then."
They found a fire escape ladder, jumped up and ascended the stairways. Upon landing on the rooftop, they soon saw they were not alone. A dog tailed faunus looked at them in surprise. Said faunus was also wearing a mask with an owl feather on it.
[cue music- Twenty One Pilots-Heathens]
"Who are you?" Kali asked.
"Oh me?" The dog faunus girl just laughed. "Oh my name likely isn't even that important in the grand scheme of things. I'm just a pawn in another player's game, hoping I survive long enough to reap the benefits."
"And what benefits do you think you'll reap?" Ghira posed.
"Hopefully a better world for faunus. One where no one will be afraid, and where humans will get what they deserve."
Kali and Ghira gave each other concerned looks.
Ghira looked at the spy closely. "Do you recognize me? Or either of us, for that matter?"
The Revolutionist spy looked at them carefully for a few moments. Ghira remained with his glare as Kali tried not to appear too nervous.
"No. Should I?"
"Not really I suppose. We were before your time."
She chuckled. "I can tell you're outsiders."
"Is it... that obvious?" Kali inquired.
"It certainly is. You don't know what's going on here, do you?"
Kali looked at the Revolutionist hesitantly. "Can't say that we do."
The Revolutionist folded her arms with a smirk. "Well, if you must know, I am part of the winning side of the recent civil war that occurred. A war between the Loyalists and the Revolutionists. There are very few Loyalists now."
"Loyalists? Who are, or who were they?"
"Well, they're the ones who followed Maura Celandine..." She paused. "Wait a second. You don't look like you're members of the White Fang."
"We're not." Ghira answered cautiously. "Is that a problem?"
"Not necessarily, because it can be easily solved." the spy answered. "You look like smart and strong individuals. You should join us. Join the Revolutionists, and we will take the world by storm."
Kali hesitated. "I don't know..."
"Come on, don't you want a better world for faunus? One where we won't need to be afraid of discrimination or being hurt?"
"We do, but..."
The dog faunus glared at them. "But what?"
"You're hiding something. What's the truth? What happened to the Loyalists? And how did Maura Celandine really fall?"
She scowled. "That's not your concern, outsiders."
"Please, we need to know. Maura was our friend!" Kali blurted out.
She cupped her mouth, realizing her mistake only too late.
"A friend of Maura is an enemy of the Revolutionists!"
She charged forward as Kali took her hands away and mumbled, "Well, crud. Subtlety's out."
Ghira quickly grabbed the Revolutionist by her arms and threw her onto the next rooftop, only to bounce onto two more rooftops from the force of his strength. A groan was heard in the distance.
Kali looked down in shame. "Oh man, I blew it..."
The strongman looked at her sincerely. "Don't blame yourself, dear. Considering the girl's demeanor, I don't think she was going to give us all the answers we seek." He looked in the distance as the dog tailed faunus got up, turned on her heel and ran for the hills. "However, we did learn one thing- we know the Revolutionists are the enemy."
Later that evening, Adam stood outside the warehouse and his friends were staying at.
First guard shift. At least I have time to ponder my thoughts and my next move. So far I've managed to convince Sienna to come with me and my friends, but how do I...?
He heard the brisk, beating sound of wings. At first he thought it might have been a flock of birds, but he closed his eyes, hearing but one pair of wings, too loud to be a normal bird. He opened his eyes and saw a dark grey feather falling down towards him. He caught the feather in his hands before it landed.
An owl feather? he thought. Is this...?
He looked up, and saw the 'war goddess' herself flying above him. "Athena Bruna?"
She smiled. "Hello there, Adam Taurus. Beautiful night isn't it?"
"I thought you weren't going to show yourself to me."
"Oh, I was hiding." She said as she kept her winged afloat in the air. "But you are quite the persistent man, continuing to roam the city I've made my home."
The bull-horned faunus give her a glare. "So why are you here? Why go through so much trouble to hide yourself from me if you were going to do this?"
"A clever observation, Adam. Come up here, and we'll talk. We can't have Sienna or your subordinates overhearing us, now can we?"
She flew up to the rooftop. Adam leapt onto the lid of a dumpster, jumped up to a fire escape staircase and ran up to meet Athena on the rooftop. By the time he got there, the winged faunus had landed.
"There we go." Athena stated. "Now, why have you been searching for me?"
The bull faunus gave her a sigh. "Long story short- I've been searching for the leader of Mistral's White Fang branch for quite a while. At first, I was seeking out Maura, trying to save her and thus, make her feel grateful enough to aid me in my plan. Once I heard of her demise, I knew that you would take her place. But what I do not know is whether your status as Mistralian White Fang leader would hinder me in pursuit of my goals, or aid me in achieving them."
"And what are those goals?"
Adam raised an eyebrow. "How do I know that I can trust you?" He looked closely at her. "You have some plan as the new leader. What is it?"
Athena gave him a wry smile. "That there is the problem. In order to protect this movement, the people within it, myself and my future goals, we've taken caution with any and all outsiders. I've kept a firm grip on the cards in my hand." She gave him a serious look. "To many people, both human and faunus alike, we're treacherous, no good heathens. But there's more that meets the eye. And I believe this to be true for all faunus, Revolutionists and non-Revolutionists alike. There's a reason why you're here, after all."
"So even with Maura's demise, the Civil War continues."
Her lips pursed into a smirk. "Precisely."
"It appears we are at an impasse."
She frowned. "Indeed so, but perhaps it does not need to be this way." Her face then turned to a calm expression. "I know your plan coming to a halt is not the only source of frustration. I'm sure you're wondering what became of your friend Daphne."
Adam raised his eyebrows in shock, then gave her a glare. "How do you know about her?"
The 'war goddess' folded her arms in a smirk. "Because she joined me of her own free will."
"I find that hard to believe. She was a die-hard Loyalist."
"Let's just say that Marrok has a way with words."
He realized... "Your subordinate convinced her."
Athena shook her head. "When he brought her to me, I tried to find out what she knew of your plans, but she knew nothing. Then again, if you were to take one of my specialists, you wouldn't get anything from them."
"You hide details from your own subordinates as well?" Adam asked her.
She let her arms down. "I do. It keeps my plans from being revealed to the wrong person."
"A smart move."
"Indeed. Every move I make is carefully calculated. I take every known factor into account when staging an operation. However, there are some problems with that approach. Are you aware of what happened to me at Sanctum Academy?"
"I am. When Sienna punished me for the attack on Beacon Academy, she had told me why she had taken one third of my troops to Mistral of all places. She told me that you were defeated by a young man named Ash Nikos."
"An unfortunate truth. I did not expect him to rise above the chaos and lead everyone to a halfhearted victory. In real life, there are often factors that can't be calculated. And that was what lead to my downfall at Sanctum. Ash Nikos is long gone from here..."
"But there may be other people who try to stop us."
"Precisely." She looked at him with an acknowledging smile. "We're of a kind, both cut from the same cloth. But that does not mean we're entirely the same."
"So what would be the difference between us?"
"You're asking the wrong question." She walked around him in a circle. "What you should be asking is what length are you willing to go to gain power and achieve your goals?"
He looked at her with a straight face. "You're willing to go to any length, aren't you?" She nodded in affirmation. "You have no problem killing whoever stands in your way to get to power."
"You are correct there. I mean, look at me. I framed Maura to have her executed and attempted to kill Sienna indirectly by dropping her high in the air. Sadly for me, it seems that she has a landing strategy. Since you're not willing to tell me your plans, answer me this- have you thought of trying to kill Sienna?"
He remained silent for a moment, but then answered, "I have thought of it. But the problem with that idea is my cohorts. If they saw me attempting to kill her, they might answer to the higher authority and then I would be killed for treachery."
"Looks like we both have the same problem- subordinates who would question our decisions. Best case scenario-which is unrealistic, if we took our respective crews and tried to kill her, they would help one of us. Worst case scenario- which is more likely, they help Sienna to subdue and kill us both. I was fortunate that I was alone when Sienna confronted me this afternoon, but unfortunate in the fact that my attempt to kill her had failed."
"We want more power to achieve our goals, so we would have to kill the high leader, but because she has the power to stop us, we can't touch her in the public sphere of the White Fang."
"Thus creates the catch-22. But there is a way around it. We can create the perfect environment to try and achieve that goal."
Adam folded his arms. "What do you mean by that?"
"Think of it like this. We're both players in a game. A dangerous game only for the strong-willed and advanced minded. I propose to you a challenge. A challenge of wits, strength, and, on your end, manipulation."
"So what do you propose?"
She giddily smiled. "Oh, I was waiting for you to ask that! I have a plan that might help one or both of us, so listen very closely..."