Saffron woke up right where she had fallen, surrounded by a blanket of snow. She looked over and saw Shiso, Reva, and the wolves all frozen in ice. She walked over to the two people; she hoped that they were all alright. Midway, she fell down again and clutched her wrist. Her veins were glowing an unnatural light blue color. Saffron got up and struggled over to her friend. She sat next to Shiso’s frozen body and attempted to start a fire with a spell, but she didn’t even have enough power left over for that. She sighed as she grabbed a rock and started chipping away at the ice on Shiso’s waist; if she could get some knives from his belt, the process would go much faster.

========================================================================

After Saffron freed Shiso from his icy prison, she finally had enough strength to make some fire magic. They both sat down and stared at Reva, both asking the same question.

“Should we get her out?” asked Saffron. Shiso wiped some ice off himself.

“I don’t think so. She tried to kill us. No reason she wouldn’t do it again if we let her out. Don’t forget why we had to put her in there.” Shiso was firm about this decision.

“She was technically just trying to defend her family!” Saffron countered. “Wouldn’t you protect yours?!” Shiso tightened his scarf.

“I haven’t had a family for a while… I don’t care how noble you think she is; we’re not letting her out of the ice.” Shiso stood resolute in his decision on the matter. Saffron’s face was red with anger at what Shiso wanted them to do. How could she turn a blind eye to that? She stood up and threw her ball of fire at Reva.

“Oops.” Saffron said with a defiant smile. Shiso stood up and readied his gun.

“Kid, you’re going to see; this was a bad idea.” The mist cleared and Reva’s body was still mostly frozen. Her head was now thawed out, but it didn’t look like she could move anything else. Saffron went to Reva’s side while Shiso slowly approached her, careful to not let his guard down.

“Hey, are you awake?” Saffron asked. Reva started to stir from her sleep and looked around. Once she saw Saffron and Shiso, she started to madly struggle.

“Get me out!” Reva demanded.

“Not a chance.” said Shiso.

“Come on Shiso, give her a second chance.” pleaded Saffron. Shiso was about to counter again, but he looked at Saffron’s state. She was leaning against Reva’s icy body for support and her wrists had a burning blue glow to them. Shiso was about to hate the decision he was making. He sighed.

“Fine, kid. You go sit down or something; I can get her out myself.” Saffron dove in and gave Shiso a hug.

“Thank you, Shiso. You won’t regret it!” Shiso lightly patted Saffron’s head and pried her off of him.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Go sit down.”

“Yeah, yeah. I will.” Saffron went and laid down on the ground; Shiso couldn’t tell if she was asleep though. He turned around to face Reva.

“Well then, time to get you out.” he said, stretching.

“How exactly are you going to do that?” asked Reva. Shiso smiled and pulled out a couple of kunai knives.

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Shiso hadn’t made much progress before Reva started to ask him questions. He still didn’t fully trust her, but he could probably still have a conversation. Beside him were about a half-dozen knives with broken tips and edges.

“So, why do you want to fight to Eden?” asked Reva.

“I fight for myself.” he said plainly.

“I don’t think anybody fights for just themselves.”

“Change your thinking then, sister.”

“I know you have something or somebody to fight for. Is it the girl?” Shiso laughed.

“God knows, I’ll fight with her, but definitely not for her.”

“But what’s your catalyst? What makes you go?” Shiso was starting to get even more annoyed.

“What are you; my phycologist? Chill out while I get you out.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Reva asked.

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“The girl said your name was Shiso, right?” Reva inquired.

“Everyone’s got one.”

“What about her?” she said, tilting her head over to Saffron.

“The kid’s name is Saffron.”

“Why call her a kid?”

“What is this, 20 questions? Because she is one. Why else?” Reva laughed.

“No, it’s just that I don’t think you know a lot about her, do you?” Shiso rolled his eyes.

“And you do?” he asked.

“She’s got a huge secret. It’s something everyone on earth who’s seen her before knows, so I dunno why you don’t know it.”

“I don’t hear everything about the outside, but I know most of the important information that’s happened over the decades. If it was important enough, I’d know it.”

“You think you know everything? Just ask her what she did before the world died.”

“Whatever. She’s got a heart of gold on her, so you’d better not plan on hurting her.” Reva pulled out a serious face.

“I’d never hurt without cause. That is my only promise.” Shiso grumbled as another kunai shattered against the ice.

“Goddammit!” Shiso shouted. He pulled out his gun and fired multiple shots at the ice, which cracked from the numerous bullet wounds. Reva burst out of the cast of ice that had encased her. Shiso tried to catch her before she could fall, but Reva’s armor was so heavy that it took him down with her. Shiso pounded his fist madly against the ground, finding it hard to breathe with over 300 pounds of woman, armor, and shield weighing down on his squishy body. Reva rolled off of him, hoisted him up, and gave a hearty laugh.

“You’re a funny man!” Reva then looked down at her feet for a second. “So, no hard feelings about earlier, right? I was just trying to defend… my family.” Shiso took a minute to catch his breath.

“If the kid wants to move on, then forgive and forget.” Reva gave a small smile.

“That’s good to know.” Reva and Shiso sat down and looked at Saffron’s napping body.

“What happened to your people?” asked Shiso seriously; Reva didn’t seem taken too aback by the question.

“They all made it to Eden’s gates, but none of them made it through. They all turned into the savage creatures you see today.” Shiso gave a tired sigh.

“Most don’t make it through. I never even made it to the gates in my time. It’s nice to look after them, but you’ve got to let those people go eventually. They’re far gone.” Reva had a sad look in her eyes, as if she’s had this argument with someone else before.

“I just can’t. If the Gate Guardian changed them, she could probably change them back; that would imply that I’m strong enough to make her though.” Shiso nodded.

“I get it. Nothing gets past the Guardian, but with your shield and our fire, we could have just the shadow of a chance. That might be assuming the Guardian is willing to comply with any requests after beating her.” They both looked over at Saffron again.

“Why do you think she’s fighting?” asked Reva. Shiso laughed.

“Hell if I know. Kid probably wants to save the world or something. Whatever it is, she seems set on her goal.”

“Do you really think we can beat the Guardian if we work together?”

“I still don’t know; even with three people, she might just make us look like a lot of monkeys. A weapon versus fisticuffs might not make a difference in that context.” Reva raised an eyebrow and laughed.

“Wait, ‘fisticuffs’? I haven’t heart that word in a decade.” Shiso gave an awkward cough.

“Oh well, you know; she’ll just make us look like fools. Sorry, us Eden Guardians don’t really age on the job; I guess most of my slang is outdated by now.” Reva gave a chuckle.

“Well, the world’s over, so you don’t have to worry about adapting to the changing times too much. You don’t have to act like such a man out of time.” Shiso raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you an Eden Guardian?” he asked.

“Oh no, I’m not. I think I’ve seen one though.”

“Oh really; who?” Reva rubbed her chin.

“I think she was some sort of solicitor or something. She had some really red eyes and she asked if she wanted my blood.” Shiso shuddered.

“Ugh, and I thought you were unhinged.” They both shared a loud laugh. A little ways away, Saffron woke up from her sleep. She looked down at her wrists; everything looked normal now. She glided her way over to Shiso and Reva.

“You said your name was Reva, right? My name is-”

“Saffron.” Reva finished. Saffron nodded.

“Did Shiso tell you?”

“You could say we’ve been talking.” she said with a wink. Neither Saffron nor Shiso could really tell what she implied by that, but they both gave awkward laughs.

“Well, with your shield and our strength, we can be the People’s Phalanx!” said Saffron. “I mean, if you like the sound of that.” Reva gave a smile.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.” Her reply made Saffron quite excited.

“Are we ready to go then?” asked the girl. “You can fill me in on yourself while we walk.”

“Sounds good to me.” said Shiso, definitively. They all got up and started walking, but were soon stopped by the ground steeply sloping downwards.

“Is there some other route?” asked Saffron. Reva smiled and dropped her giant shield onto the ground.

“I don’t see a problem here!” She grabbed Saffron and Shiso and slid down the hill on her shield at breakneck speed. Reva was having the time of her life, and Saffron and Shiso's screams were drowned in the wind.