top of the FOOD CHAIN

Her hand still held Sienna’s, a sign of trust that Robyn was slowly cultivating between the pair; much akin to trying to convince a wounded dog not to bite a hand trying to help. Would she blame Sienna for darting out if she so chose? Not really though it would be an opportunity sorely missed.

The questions brought a faint scowl to Robyn’s expression, irritation slowly seeping in at the situation of Mantle that was brought back into the light.

“Those supplies were being… requisitioned for a better purpose than Jacques Schnee making money for his own pocket.” The huntress responds, tone tight and the playful air draining away for a more serious persona taking front. “I am going to assume you know little of Mantle’s current state in regards to the Embargo that James Ironwood has enforced and the sorry state of my home that is now suffering for it.”

Robyn wouldn’t say she is a good person because she isn’t, not truly.  However, it took a real bitter and cruel person to turn an eye if they’re in a position to help. That is what makes a true Huntress when they are in the field, right?

Why should it be no different when politics are involved?

The thoughts made Robyn scrunch her nose and bare teeth before an exhale escapes her lips, “But the first does tie into the second. Our goals are relatively similar in bettering the people we care for but mine are more… broad on the subject of who it encompasses.”

“I’m intending to run for councilwoman to set everything right that Ironwood and his lackies have fucked up. People are starving and dying down here but they don’t care, why would they?” She sneers, her hand pulling away from Sienna’s to ball into a fist and shove into her pockets. Her emotions were getting the better of her again, anger prickling her skin.

“That answer your questions well enough, stripes?”

Sienna kept her own grip on Robyn’s hand firm.  As wary as she may still have been given her situation, she almost felt a hint of desperation.  This budding bond of trust, being able to have someone to rely on...she wanted this to work.  She couldn’t just run of her own accord, condemn herself to loneliness once more.

Her questions asked, she stood silently, attention focused on the soured expression across the other woman’s face.  It took little more than the name “Schnee” to make her ears press back against her head, her own expression displaying a similar irritation to Robyn’s but remaining intent on hearing all she had to say.

It was an entirely different side than the one she’d been interacting with this entire time.  True anger simmered beneath the surface, the righteous fury of a woman who’d seen the people she cared for be wronged by those in power and would take whatever action she felt necessary to bring them the help they deserved.

“Yes, quite well,” was her response, her posture straightening up a bit as she looked at Robyn.  She wished for her to know that she was utterly serious in everything she was about to say.

“I’ll be as open as I can with you at this moment in time, Robyn,” she declared.  The hand at her side had come up to press against the back of her elbow, which was still bent to keep her hand outstretched.  “Trust is not something that comes easy to me in these times.  I’m only here today because of my violent usurpation by someone I once trusted very much.  I’ve traveled completely alone since, unable to turn to even my own people, whose loyalty was swept out from under me.”

She took a step toward her, hand still put out in her direction.  Her face had shifted, becoming...softer, understanding.  “Where my trust has been shaken, however, my principles hold firm.  Equality for Faunus all across Remnant has always been my top priority, and my plan for the mining operation is my first step toward getting back on that track.  Even so...I can recognize injustice done unto others, as well as the drive to push back against oppressors.”

Another check to make sure her posture was straight- not chest-puffed-out or anything, but steadfast in her stance nonetheless.  “I can’t exactly say I’ve ever been interested or welcomed in the world of politics, but you seem to operate outside those conventions when it suits you.  That sort of work is something I know well...it’s something I can lend a hand with.  Something we can work on together.  And if you need a bit more assurance...”

Robyn Hill was going to have Hell to pay – that was assuming things didn’t end in blood. Winter kept her grip at her side, weaponless, but the stance gave her a familiarity that eased her growing anxieties. 

A glance between purple and gold, Winter found at least three questions on her tongue. None she suspected would actually be answered anytime soon.

“It would be difficult for anyone to NOT know the infamous leader of the White Fang.” words etched from ice, yet calm despite bristling skin.  “Of Schnee blood or otherwise." 

Her words all but spat in a hiss. Only seconds were alotted in figuring why in the world her vigilante lover would bring home one of many who had a particular want of seeing a Schnee on a pike. Winter couldn’t understand it, but she wanted to believe it was done with some semblance of trust.  

”You’ve made quite the name for yourself Sienna Khan…“  cyan eyes narrowed as the specialist continued. “I’m surprised to see you anywhere near Atlas.” 

A rush of paranoia and fury flooded Sienna once more- one she thought she had come to abandon in her time with Robyn and her Huntresses.  For a woman who’d placed such weight in trust, she had a hell of a way of shaking hers.

What shocked her the worst was that she’d have never taken Robyn to even spare this woman a second thought.  The blood that ran through her was that of Atlas’s most wretched elites, those who built and upheld the very system that ground her beloved Mantle beneath the heel of oppression!  She couldn’t have actually trusted a Schnee of all people.

“You’ll find I’ve done well enough at remaining anonymous.”  The hiss of Winter’s cold demeanor was met with a growl, fury simmering beneath.  “I’d have never made it to the heart of the problem otherwise.”

Further thought was given to Robyn’s purpose.  Maybe she was truer to her Atlesian roots than she’d led her to believe.  Maybe...she intended to turn her in to the very family who may have matched her contempt for them.

Someone would die before that happened, she’d make sure of it...no matter how hard it would prove if it had to be the one who led her here.

The answers were close to what Robyn had expected from someone who had wore the emblem of the White fang once upon a time; destruction for the greater cause of equality and whilst Robyn didn’t condone unnecessary violence, she did understand.

She understood better than most would if they had her wealthy upbringing.

Her grasp on Sienna’s hand remained, keeping the glowering green aura between them and allowing nothing but truth to be known. “I respect and appreciate you being honest with me. I meant what I said before, you’re plenty safe here.”

The last thing Robyn needed was this woman, who was presumed dead and certainly dangerous, being on hair trigger and lashing out–

“Not my place to speak on what you’re doing but ill be honest, we have similar goals despite the methods.” Well, they were close enough in the same vein that it probably didn’t matter too greatly but Robyn knew well that the White Fang would go to most-any lengths for their own goals whilst Robyn had boundaries and lines. 

Idea’s were already swirling around the woman’s mind in regards of what she would do with Sienna, how she could utilize her and still help her in a less violent way to her goals.

For the moment, however, she would keep those to herself. “You wanted to ask me thinks too, right? Go ahead. I’ve asked all I needed too and I’ll give you the same honesty that you’ve given me.”

Respect and trust. Everything came down to those two things.

Sienna was well aware that opinions of the White Fang around this area were likely to be largely unpopular- even moreso in the city above.  She knew it equally certain that, if Robyn knew her name, she knew of her position...or rather, the position she once held.  Should word get around, the success of her whole damned mission- the one she’d clawed her way back from death to accomplish- would be thrown into jeopardy.

But she had never worked in the White Fang because it was safe.  She didn’t lead the way she had to make the organization popular.  She fought for the rights of security of Faunus all across Remnant, nothing else.

And she would own that truth, regardless of what Robyn thought of it.

She hummed quietly at the comment about her safety.  There was her word again, the one she swore would be true.  The more time she spent with her, the more she believed it.  Her judgement of character was something she’d called into question ever since that wretched day, however...best to keep some of her guard up for now, at least.

“You probably already have an idea of what I intend to ask,” she responded, fingers flexing a bit against Robyn’s hand.  “I’m still curious as to what you needed from that truck you and your group raided, and why.  And you say our goals are similar?  Then tell me- what do you intend to accomplish in this city, Robyn Hill?”

The candy is caught quite handily- her reflexes are still sharp enough for that much, no matter the speed of the yeeting.