[Bianca Sabbato]

After another long job, there I was, enjoying a simple dish of rice with meatballs. At my side, I had a warm cup of mulled wine I was slowly sipping in between bites. Humming contently to myself as I took in the fragrance of the brew.

I would have liked to have a better view of the windows, just to sate my paranoia. But in the end, I conceded to sit on a faraway corner since the owner didn’t have any problem with serving me. But she told me some people may give her a hard time for it later.

Of course, easy for her to say that and then bend down at the first sign of trouble. But I guessed this was her livelihood as much as being a huntress (Or something like that) was mine, so I couldn’t really blame her in good conscience. Plus, I was hungry and wouldn’t find anywhere else to eat there.

The day was lovely, not gonna lie. The sky was cloudy but not looking like it was about to rain. A gentle breeze ran through the town. While everyone seemed to be busy with their daily activities. For a moment, I missed Berwin and wished she was there with me so we could have a relaxing weekend together in the woods... But sadly, fortune didn’t have it that way.

The place was a small, average town. No one would pay attention to the Haven student sitting on a corner in the local tavern, minding her own business as she relaxed after a rough mission.

Of course, not a lot of people traveled with spears nowadays. But mine wasn’t anything special, so people wouldn’t immediately peg me as a huntress unless they stopped to take a good look at me.

The peaceful state of the town was likely due to the shipment that I helped escorting all the way here. It was nothing special, to be honest, a mixture of different products and commodities. Nothing was of first necessity, but things that give a little warmth to life nonetheless, like candy, handicraft, perfume, exotic meats and fruits, and fabrics. And other assortments of random bullshit.

Good work, work that paid well enough. I actually took this job partly because it left me pretty close to one of the stations from the Argus limited. Just another day of travel, probably hitching a ride there myself in exchange for a handful of lien.

And from there I could take the train to Argus... I heard the Sanctum library received some copies of a book from some important dude in Vacuo about aura theory. So I would go and beg for them to lend a copy for me to photocopy or something. I was sure we could work something out...

Whatever the case, I was content minding my own business when I saw someone enter the old tavern. I first recognized the stride, unchanged even as the years had altered some factions and wardrobe alike.

-You gotta be shitting me...- I uttered at the reminder of how the mistakes of the past like to catch up with you at the worst possible moments... I mean, it wasn’t really an inconvenient moment. But I would likely have considered any moment to be a bad one for something like that.

Yes, that was Russet Bruin, alright. I guess just having a good day was asking for too much. I looked at her, a feeling of dread pooling in my stomach as her eyes fell on me. Although I guessed it was due time use to meet again. Sadly neither of us had died before that could happen.

I locked eyes with her. It was clear that she had seen me and recognized me as well after she stopped for a moment... Taking a deep breath as I raised my glass to my lips. Taking a long sip of the drink and leaving it half-finished. It had been nice while it lasted.

-Alright- I said to myself, nodding towards her as a way to ask her to get closer.

I wondered why Russet was here, and obviously, my brain jumped to the worst conclusion. Maybe she was planning to kill me? I mean, it wouldn’t be so hard following me if someone really wanted. I didn’t go around flaunting my jobs, but there were registers, and a lot of them were public.

Besides, a lizard girl with dreads and a spear, with an earth manipulation semblance... Yeah, I doubted a lot of people fitted that particular description... Why was Russet in particular here? Well. She knew me relatively well, so if someone knew how to properly counter my skills was probably her.

Closing my eyes, I focused on sensing the auras around me. No one seemed to be trying to sneak on me. Neither inside the tavern nor outside of it, at least nearby. Clicking my tongue, I wondered if Russet had been sent not to confront me directly. But to lure me somewhere else where they could be laying an ambush. Everyone knows the Kozaks don’t like huntsmen, so it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to start hunting us like that.

Considering my options, I dug my fork in a meatball while I waited for Russet to approach. Chewing on it slowly as I watched the woman get closer. My spear rested at hands reach against the wall, while I still had my trusty grenades under my cape, so I wasn’t exactly defenseless.

-There are too many people around here... I don’t mind following you somewhere else... Depends on what you have in mind- I said with a tired voice, looking at her without getting out of my seat. Waiting for her response.

---

956 / 956 Words

[Russet Bruin]

Was that...?

Nah.

Couldn't be.

Was it?

She squinted at the lizard girl from across the tavern. It was a little hard to believe, honestly. What was she doing this far out? Russet turned to the innkeeper, keeping her voice low. "Hey, just uh. Put the goods on the counter for me. Boss's tab. Gotta take care of some business first." The lady running the place blinked, before recognizing the emblems and colors on her clothes. She nodded, and headed to the little kitchen behind the bar.

Satisfied, Russet strode cautiously over to Bianca's table.

What the hell did she want, coming out so far into this neck of the woods?

She approached without much of a greeting, just trying to figure out what was going on, but before she could think to say anything, the faunus spoke up first. And that just opened up more questions.

Too many people around?

Really?

When had that ever mattered before.

Well, whatever.

If she was here, might as well make the best of it. Opportunity like this only came up so often, after all. "Well hello to you too, Bee. Yeah, it's whatever. We can take this outside." She frowned, but simply turned to head towards the door, only turning when she reached the bar again, to make sure Bianca was trailing along.

The innkeeper came out with a carefully-wrapped box, about as big as a forty-pound sack of potatoes.

Which was a weird way to measure the size of the box, in retrospect.

Russet hefted it up onto her shoulder with her offhand and smiled at the lady, before heading out of the tavern, Bianca presumably trailing behind. She glanced over her shoulder. "There's an apple orchard a little ways from here- that far out enough for you? It's all the same, to me. Your call. We can do this right here, if you want."

She figured Bianca would be inclined to keep going, though, since she seemed pretty concerned about tying up other people in their business. Yeah, things could certainly get pretty messy that way.

The walk to the orchard was pretty quiet, at least on Russet's end.

And fortunately, not a long walk- she'd meant it when she said it was just a little ways away. Still, it was nice and out of sight of everything else, and the farmers were out in the market stalls closer to the village square, so they had the place all to themselves.

"Here."

Carefully, Russet lowered the package to the ground, sliding it away for safety, before finally turning to face Bianca.

"Y'know, I been waiting a long-ass time for this, Bee. Hope you're ready, 'cause I sure as hell ain't holdin' back." She cracked her back, and stretched her arms, sizing Bianca up. Seeing that damn spear in her hands, Russet decided it was probably best to toss her own weapons to the side, by the box. They weren't going to need them anyways.

She stretched her neck to the sides too, and continued. "So, how we doin' this? The hard way? Guess with you, there's not another option, huh. Yeah, hard it is."

Her white cloak came off easily enough, then the leather jacket beneath it, leaving her with just a tank top and shorts. She tossed the outerwear to the side in a heap, and cracked a grin.

...And started to remove her tank top too. "Dunno why you had to be this weird about it, though. If you wanted me that bad, we coulda just grabbed a room and a bottle at the inn. Didn't think your square ass was into doing it outside, but hey, whatever floats your boat."

WC: 620 // TWC: 620

[Bianca Sabbato]

Russet was surprisingly easygoing about the whole ordeal. Was she this confident in her victory? As well trained as the Kozaks were, I highly doubted they could take me down with anything less than Ribalka or an unhandy amount of explosives.

I mean, this could also be Russet just being Russet and believing that she has what it takes to finish the job by herself... Wich is, no disrespect to my former partner, a stupid idea. I always had been stronger than her. So unless she went and unlocked her hidden powers during the time we spend apart, it was a dire proposition for the potato-woman.

I saw her turn around and approach the door. So I wordlessly went along. I put some lien over the counter, told the woman to keep the change, and headed outside, following Russet to whatever place she had prepared for taking me out.

-Yeah. As further away from curious eyes as possible. We wouldn’t want people coming to see like it was a fucking spectacle, even less if they try to join in...-

I responded to her offering of heading to the edge of town. It was probably better that way. People are usually pretty stupid. And likely to catch a stray bullet between the eyes because they believed they were at a safe distance to spectate two dangerous individuals trying to kill each other.

-At least on my side, dunno what do you intend to do, after all. How many people do you plan to involve...-

I said with a level tone, steading my breathing and starting to stir my tired muscles into fighting shape.

Damn Russet, couldn’t she wait until I got some sleep at least? Welp, I guess that would actually be too much to ask for.

Every now and then, I very openly and carelessly let my eyes wander around to our surroundings. Trying to see any signs of traps or people hiding in ambush around us. But I found nothing, which was slightly worrying since I should be able to spot your average joe hiding from a decent distance away.

Finally, we reached our destination... It was sufficiently secluded, so it would be good enough. I probably could go all out there, considering we were literally surrounded by soil on all sides.

-I’d be offended if you came all the way here and planned to hold back... But I have to warn you the same goes for me. Don’t blame me if only one of us can walk away from here- Because the other one would be leaving in a coffin, of course. This is what I meant, hoping against my knowledge of the girl that Russet would take my warning into consideration and leave the place immediately.

Alas, she didn’t seem deterred by it... I was about to assume a fighting stance when I caught sight of Russet tossing her weapon away... Arching a brow, I was suddenly left very confused.

Russet didn't plan to use her weapon? Then what was the plan? Maybe she had something else in reserve? I highly doubted she was planning on taking me on melee. I knew Russ was a ranged fighter... Then I saw her taking out her clothes, with would also make sense if she planned on getting really close and personal. That way, I wouldn’t be able to grab her.

But it made no sense!

-Hard way? Well, yeah, I guess. Is there any other way to do it?- I answered, cracking my own neck in a mirroring motion. Physically and mentally prepared to throw down already... What I was not prepared for. That was what Russet actually had in mind.

I waited in silence for about ten seconds as Russet’s tank-top fell to the ground. Unsure of how to react. Hell. Even not knowing what to think.

-Wait, what?- I exclaimed, as sudden realization hit me like a truck.

-N-no! Russ, please stop...- I said with wide eyes, throwing my hands frantically in front of me. That stupid potato girl! Did she have to go and make everything weird? What did she think this was!?

-Did you think we were going to fuck?! I believed you were going to try and kill me!- I revealed at last. Going to pick Russet discarded cloak and tossing it for her to catch. An expression of intense disbelief set on my face.

-I mean, I know I’m always horny and all. But did you really believe I would just... Ask you to go have fun in the woods without a single word in between? Didn’t that pose any questions in your head? Didn’t my completely sour expression made you think that perhaps something was off?-

Falling flat on my butt, I stared at the girl in front of me before planting a hand on my face and shaking it lightly from side to side. I would have time later to process that apparently Russet Bruin had the hots for me. But for now, I just wanted to dig a hole and die.

-Fucking hell, Russet...-

It seemed like misunderstandings tended to happen when you mixed a person with a potato-brain and a person with a lizard-brain in the same place.

---

869/1825 Words

[Russet Bruin]

Man, Bianca was way freakier than Russet had ever imagined.

Talking about a spectacle. People joining in? Only one even being able to walk away!? Damn... You'd think after so many years, you'd come to know a person... What the fuck were they teaching at that superhero school...?

Well, whatever it was, it wasn't anything Russet couldn't handle.

She was in the process of dropping her pants when she noticed Bianca's rather frantic reaction to her state of undress. Which led her to believe she should maybe button them back up.

She stared at Bianca, a little incredulously, as she tried really hard to figure out what the fuck was going on in that dumb lizard brain of hers.

"Well. Yeah. What you said is stupid, I don't wanna kill you, sheesh. Anyways, why the fuck else would you come all the way out here, and single me out like that in the bar?" Geez, what an idiot... There was only one reason to try to get someone to take you someplace more private, away from prying eyes. And with all the damn tension coming from her the last few times they saw each other, what else did she expect?

She caught the cloak, and draped it over her shoulder as Bianca continued to ramble on.

Always horny?

"See, right there! It's shit like that, that's confusing, Bee! You're givin' me all kinds of mixed signals here."

She had to admit, though, that maybe Bianca might almost have a point. At least, a little bit, maybe.

She scratched her head, looking up at the sky in thought.

"I mean. Kinda. Y'know, now I think about it, I guess it's pretty weird. But you're weird as fuck, so I figured that just made it normal again. It's normal if someone weird does some weird shit, right? That's like, a math rule or something. You tell me, you're the one with an academy PdH or whatever. And if you're so smart, why the hell'd you go along with it in the first place? Plus, you always look like that. Damn, Bee."

Bianca fell flat on her ass, and Russet had to laugh. It was a really funny scene. Damn, she really got all flustered and bent out of shape over that? Hehe. The ol' Bruin charm must have had her weak on her knees.

Seeing as Bianca was seated, Russet plopped down where she stood, a couple feet in front of her, still snickering.

"Wait, you really thought I was coming all the way out here to kill you?" The snickering descended into full-blown, knee-slapping, cackling. "That's the stupidest shit I ever heard! Why would I even want to kill you? Look, if this is over the 800 Lien, you can keep it, shit. You just gotta buy me two drinks now. You still got the free punch, if you want it, too!" She pointed down at her still-quite-bare midriff, grinning.

She was pretty sure Bianca had tossed the cloak so she'd put it back on, but it was a nice summer day, and she was wearing her good bra, so might as well have a little fun while Bianca was still in shock.

"Besides, if anyone was gonna come out and kill you, I'd be the last one to take that job. That's like wiping before you shit, it don't make no sense. I might live dangerous, but I kinda like the "living" part of that, y'know?" She shook her head, wiping away some stray tears from laughing too hard.

Turning to the side, she reached out to give the hefty box a pat. "I was just on a delivery run for the boss. Was as surprised to see you as you were me, really. What the hell are you doin' this far from home?"

WC: 646 // TWC: 1266

[Bianca Sabbato]

At the very least, Russet had the good grace of stopping when told to do so. Considering where things were going, it would be really awkward if she assumed my pleas were just a weird roleplay game or something and continued undressing.

Shuddering a little, I decided to put those thoughts aside for the moment. Meeting Russet’s response with a deadpan expression

-Well, it’s not as if I came all the way here chasing your tail or something- I replied, gesturing to myself with my free hand -I was just minding my own business in the middle of nowhere, and then you appeared in the same bar as if this was a fucking gangsters movie...-

...Alright, looking back on it, it did sound a bit ridiculous. But I believed I was on the mark when the other woman accepted my proposition of going somewhere quieter. I took that as an indicator that we were actually going to fight.

I guess I just didn’t expect my own paranoia to be meet with Russet’s dirty mind. Talk about a match made in hell.

-Dunno Russ... You left the band while I was still in it. You later joined the Kozaks... It made sense to me that you would want to get rid of me. Considering everything that happened lately-

I mean, yeah, we never were exactly on bad terms besides some small, childish fights here and there. But I didn’t think I was so wrong in believing things like that could bring out a little resentment in someone.

I resisted the temptation of telling Russ that she was mispronouncing Ph.D. Knowing from experience that something like that would just be adding fuel to the fire. And had to frown a little when she started calling me weird and confusing. Typical Russet, wanting to blame me for her misunderstandings.

-As I said, I didn’t want to cause a scene inside the building with that many people there. You know SMGs are not the most well-suited weapons to avoid collateral damage. Even less if you had more people trying to ambush me...- Of course, now I knew those strawmen never existed at all, but my point was still valid.

-Besides. I don’t always look like that! What do you mean?- I said, offended and looking exactly like that... Now that was just lies and slander... Or maybe not? Did I have a resting bitch face? This was all new information to me. And I was dazed enough to have a hard time processing things. And I mean all of them.

-And now I’m the one giving weird signals? Says Miss “I’ve waited for a long time for this” and “I guess we are doing this the hard way”- I called out, imitating Russet’s voice and gestures. If she wanted to play that game, then I wouldn’t hold back either.

-I mean, I’m honored that you think that highly of me- I said with a mocking laugh of my own. Lightening up a little at the stupidity of the situation. -But I would probably start... You know, with a greeting? Asking you how you been and stuff? And only then inviting you to fuck me- I sentenced matter of factly. Yeah, I was always up to skipping the bullshit and going straight to the point, but I doubted even I would do that with a person I haven’t seen in years.

As I saw her sit down in front of me, I couldn’t help but to throw in one last jab while Russet began losing her shit -Not my fault you are so thirsty you couldn’t wait to do it- I said with a bittersweet tone. My expression slowly shifted back to one of uneasiness as Russet kept talking.

At least she was taking this surprisingly well. Most people would be very offended if you told them you thought they were trying to kill you, but she seemed to be more amused than disturbed at the idea.

I had even forgotten about this 800 lien and a punch that Russet was talking about. Weird that I never got to ask to have those back... But last time I got to actually speak with Russ... It was probably really long ago, memory already growing dull about a time I often didn’t like to linger on.

And somehow, it made me feel kinda happy, knowing that Russet didn’t want to get rid of me. Even when putting self-preservation aside. And I wondered why this was the case. As things were, Russet was technically my enemy, but it didn’t quite feel like that.

Needless to say, I was conflicted by this. After the attack on the ground district, many students died, none too close to me, but companions nonetheless... Could I blame the woman in front of me for that? To be honest, not really. And somehow, this made me feel kinda like a piece of shit.

Luckily, Russet’s last question took me out of my groove. Got me something else to focus on at the moment.

-What the hell do you think I’m doing here?- I asked back, pointing to my spear on the ground. -Just out of a job. Heading to Argus to take care of some other business- I sentenced. Of the nature of that job and what exactly I planned to do in Argus, I preferred not to talk.

Of the first one, In the off chance, it could affect my employers personally. Of the second, because quite frankly, I didn’t want Russet calling me a nerd again. As I knew she would do.

-So, in the end, it was just a coincidence? I mean, I first thought that you wanted to kill me since you are with the revolutionaries and I’m... Well...- I trailed off a bit at the end, having a hard time putting it into words.

A huntress? Technically not true. I was just starting my third year. An aspiring huntress? That was still up in the air. I would keep going until I graduated and got my freedom. Whatever would happen after that was anyone’s guess.

Loyal to the council? After the stunt, they pulled on the ground district. Not really, not to mention all the other shit they never cared to fix. So I couldn’t really say I would put my neck on the line for any of those fat pigs.

So then, what was I?

-...In Haven. At least for a little longer- Was pretty much all I could say. Looking at the ground for a moment, I decided to keep the conversation rolling, at least to see what would happen.

-But considering how eager you were to get inside my pants, I guess that’s not the case... Unless it was part of an assassination strategy of some sort-

---

1130 / 2955 Words

[Russet Bruin]

"Actually, I don't have a tail, that's you, dummy." She offhandedly corrected Bianca as she made the remark about not chasing her tail. Was probably a metaphorical tail, but Russet didn't seem to catch that part.

She snorted at Bianca's explanation of why she might want to kill her too. It was equally as silly as thinking that she'd gone and sprouted a tail all of a sudden. "Bee, you're a dumbass, heh. For a big nerd like you, you're kinda slow on the uptake, huh?" She snickered, before continuing.

"The band and the Kozaks don't got nothin' to do with nothin'. Left Garrick's crew 'cus he kicked me out. Dunno if you even 'member that part- I screwed the pooch on a job, and fucked a lotta shit up, he gave me the big boot. Don't got any bad blood with you 'cus of that, though, Bee." Hell, she wasn't even sure why Bianca would bring that up, except if she was just grasping at straws for reasons to be right. Hehe. Classic Bianca. Big know-it-all with a head full of dirt.

Her face screwed up a bit as she mused over Bianca's explanation of why she'd asked her to go off somewhere secluded. It made sense, at least, assuming she'd been on the money about Russet's reason for agreeing to go with her. Better to duke it out somewhere open and away from any bystanders that could get pulled into the crossfire.

Russet wasn't nearly heartless enough to cap some poor waitress just to get to Bianca, though.

"Yeah. Makes sense, I guess. If I really did wanna kill ya, I'd have done it then and there though. I'm a good shot, and that fuck-off huge semblance of yours works way better outside than in." She paused for a moment, before realizing her relatively neutral explanation probably came off a little more hostile than she wanted it to, considering Bianca was already on edge. "If I wanted to kill ya, I mean. Big if."

She snickered again as Bianca got all huffy about her resting bitch face, though. Which was a nice break from the more serious conversation. She didn't do too great with serious.

She let the cloak slide off her shoulder and down her back, falling in a heap behind her, as she continued to sit in just her bra, enjoying Bianca's slight meltdown.

It was funny.

"Do too. You always looked like that, ever since we were kids. Grumpy-ass... Hehe."

She snorted again at Bianca's impersonation of her, folding over cackling. "Hey now, you didn't say hello either, before leadin' me off to come kick your ass or whatever. That's almost twice as rude as not saying hi before gettin' frisky. 'sides, don't take it personal, you'll get a bigger head than you already got, I was just readin' the room. Seemed like you wanted something from me anyways, way you got so worked up the last few times I saw you."

Wasn't like Russet was madly in love with Bianca or anything like that- hell, she wasn't even particularly attracted to her like that, though (as was recently made apparent) she wouldn't turn her down if she offered either.

It was a practical thing, mostly.

Give her a good tumble, let her get it out of her system, and bam, stupid lizard girl, good as new, back to normal! Instead of being all weird and cagey and tense all the time. Made sense to Russet, anyways.

...Although, Bianca wasn't too wrong about her being thirsty as hell...

Hell, if anyone had experienced that firsthand the most, it was probably her; some of Russet's fondest memories were of Bianca groaning in embarrassment at her flirting with anyone and everyone while they were on the job together.

"Oh. Huh. Didn't realize the Cloudheads cared about little towns like this one." Her tone wasn't really malicious, as much as genuinely surprised by Bianca's answer. They sent her on a job this far out? Why?

Clearly, it wasn't just for the good of the villagers. Had to be something Mistral was looking to gain, at someone else's hefty expense. Or maybe they just didn't know what to do with a walking superweapon who could throw boulders and shit at people as quick as breathing.

Well.

Superweapon was maybe a stretch too far- Bianca was good, but she wasn't Alina.

She paused for a bit to think about Bianca's words again, as the faunus continued. She really thought Russet was going to kill her just because she was a Kozak? That was pretty stupid. "We don't really just go around whacking Huntsmen, y'know. Just tryin' to make a little spot for everyone the Council shits on. Hell, I'm surprised you didn't wind up with us too. What the hell'd you end up at Haven for, anyways? You're the last one I thought I'd see slaving for the Cloudheads."

It was a genuine question- and one that had been bugging her since she'd learned Bianca was a Huntress to begin with. Didn't make sense.

WC: 856 // TWC: 2122

[Bianca Sabbato]

-Didn’t know exactly where we stood. I just covered my basses. You know how motherfuckers can change in a couple years, and it’s been awfully long since I saw you-

I preferred to leave Russet with the belief that I was somehow less dangerous in a secluded space than an open one. Even if the house is made of wood, it’s awfully nice if you don’t have a lot of places to run away to... But better not to say anything, who knows... I still liked to keep some things to myself.

Same with calling out how awfully threatening her remark had seen. But I knew that was just Russet being herself. Old habits die hard for all of us. So no bad blood there.

-Didn’t know you needed to bring someone a flower bouquet case to kick their asses- I said, still trying to defend my case like a murder suspect. It wasn’t that I was grumpy... She just brought up the worst of me. Yeah, that must be it...

-So your mind immediately jumped straight to sex?- I asked. Still trying to get a jab in. But I was blindsided by the mention of me always being on edge around Russet... Now that was a good question, and one I wasn’t looking forward to answering.

What was I supposed to say? You reminded me of the worst moments of my life. That you made me painfully unaware of how fragile the cristal house I was building was? Forced me to stop living my fantasy world and face reality?

Fuck if I was going to say that. I wasn’t that close to Russet, and she would have just laughed anyway. It would just be a waste of energy...

-Just took me by surprise, seeing you around and all of that. Lowkey assumed you kicked the bucket. So it was a little shocking. Took me back a bit-

Raising an eyebrow in realization, I tilted my head towards Russet as I realized she really fucking ghosted reality for a long-ass time -That begs the question. Where were you exactly? Being kicked from the gang was one thing, but I legit never saw you for years-

Now her next question seemed an awful lot like a barb. But I shook away the urge to tell her to go fuck herself. Of course, she was going to say that. She’s a Kozak. If someone will have a negative view of the council, it was going to be her.

The worst part was that I didn’t even disagree with her. My initial irritation was... Mostly from being put in the same bag as them... Any person who really believed I supported the council didn’t know me very well. A part of that was because I didn’t let them know it, but the state was one of the many things that let me down in my life.

The answer to her question was that they probably didn’t care. This was not a mandated mission. I picked it up because I pretty much could take whatever tasks I wanted. And the bounty board allowed you to submit whatever as long as you paid and stuff. But faraway towns didn’t usually vote much at all...

-The town’s fine. It’s mostly the routes, so I was paid to escort a caravan- I said, waving the assumptions off.

-They had been suffering bandit ambushes lately, and that attracted Grimm. So I had to do a little cleaning and make sure everyone got here safe-

I actually looked at Russet with a dumbfounded expression when she mentioned not going around killing some huntsmen. As much as I didn’t want it, my mind had to wander back to the assault at Ground district. It was a massacre. Many people died on both sides. But I would be hard-pressed to believe they didn’t smile at the number of dead trainees after the fact.

-Why wouldn’t you go killing Huntsmen? It seems in line with your ideals. The first institution of oppression... I read the manifesto... I mean, that is not going to stop strong and driven people from popping out and killing, but you lot seem convinced a lot of problems would be solved by doing that-

Wich was asinine, as much as thinking Huntsman alone could fix every issue on the damn kingdom. But I doubted Russet wanted to talk about politics.

-Why do you think that? That I would end up with you lot? Elaborate a bit on that shit. Because I don’t know if that's a diss at your own group or a weird compliment... Whatever the case, I don’t really get it-

Russet knew me from back then. So I seriously doubted she would think of me as the kind of person who would follow an ideal or weird philosophy like the Kozaks. Getting a position of power was never really important to me either... So it was a strange assumption.

Especially since she seemed to hold her own position in high regard. If she really believed her group was doing the right thing and helping people, I couldn’t see how she could see me fitting in there.

The Bianca from back then never gave a shit about people... Maybe those immediately close to me. But that was it, I was trying to change that, to be better in that regard, but she didn’t have any way to know that.

-But as for why I’m with them... They needed firepower. I was at hand’s reach. So we made a deal- Didn't need to be secretive with Russet nor overly explain things. She probably got what I was talking about already.

-I just gotta graduate from Haven, and that’s about it. Feel like I have been doing a decent job at that. So I shouldn’t have any difficulties-

Never had any big problem, neither academic nor in my conduct, so something would need to really go awry for me to fail now.

-...And that’s about it. I do that and get freedom. They give me a clean slate, and I can do whatever I want from then on- Leaning back on the tree, I reflected in my own words. Closing my eyes for a brief moment and letting out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

-Still haven’t figured out where to go from there. I guess I’ll cross that bridge later- I mentioned offhandedly. Never stopped to think about that, still feels far away. -Dunno why it’s so surprising to you that I would end up with them...-

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