Redsand Canyon as the building continues to burn

kldsgjklsdjg WELL youre ahead of me, ive never played chess once in my life. i am just talking out of my ass.
sounds good to me! thank you for the thread <3 its been a very fun challenge to write, haha!

in the grand scheme of it all, this was a much more significant shift than before. they didn’t dare to think either of them had revealed that much – a tip forward did not a full hand make – but they had certainly given finley more than she’d given them. no war was won without a little sacrifice, and they could afford to give her this. a concession – a show of appreciation for someone’s ability to match word for word, when the rest of the saints were…well, they were the saints. exactly what donovan had recruited.

exactly what donovan had recruited seemed to be conspicuously lacking in the ability to think before talking. aside from finley; aside, very possibly, from colin. the standoff in healer’s pass had proved that. renard’s interest was perhaps too easily won – it had landed them here, after all – but there was a line to be drawn at romantic spats.

and their interest now found someone else. the game continued. nothing was won in a single conversation: a good lesson to learn.

they let her clarification linger, and the stare with it. if. there was still a fingernail’s worth of room for things to change here, to avoid the rising inevitability of change, whether that came at the cost of nemisis, of donovan, of both. mutiny was not a hobby, it was an end result.

her following words were much more intriguing. the meaning was clear – she knew what they spoke of. and – for now – she would not be the one to run to donovan and nemisis for it. nothing more, nothing less. as much as could be expected – she had nothing from them besides the vaguest glimpse of an idea. nobody would seat themselves firmly on their side unless they were a fool.

finley did not strike them as a fool.

“i wouldn’t expect you to. if i couldn’t pull out my own, i’d deserve what was coming.” renard tipped their muzzle to her, a polite, pleased acknowledgement. “curious to see how you handle them.” a brief, considering pause followed the word. “i’ll be watching.”