Winter

Chapter 10: Cinder

"Cinder, Winter's comming us," Kai called. I leaned back from Iko's control panel and examined my work. The area around her neck was still damaged, but I managed to ease it back into place without damaging her system. I reconnected most of the wires that've become loose from the fight to her control panel. Iko still needs more repairing. And her silicon and metal shell needs more durability, if she ever encounters another Lunar soldier. Dents were scattered across the android. I still needed to work on those. I turned her off temporarily for repairing, but it has been several weeks and I still haven't gotten any closer, especially with the limited supply of tools.

"Cinder?" Kai called again. I quickly wiped my hands on my pants and stood up.

"Coming," I called back. I walked into the hallway, stealing another glance at Iko. Looking at her, she's been through so much. She has been dismantled and placed into different bodies. I admire her. She was always there for me.

I turned back and ran to the office. When I opened the door, I saw Kai stooping over the desk, just like last time. He turned around and gestured to me to get closer. "It's all yours," he said. I smiled and grasped his hand in my normal one. His ears turned pink.

"Accept," I stated. I waited for us to connect. What does Winter want to talk about? Moments passed. Then, the screen opened up to show Winter. She looked dirty and battered. And she's in a different room, one full with netscreens. But that wasn't what caught my attention. Three people were positioned behind her, a man, a girl about my age, and Jacin. My eyes widened with fear.

"You-"

"Cinder, it's not what it looks like," Winter pleaded, throwing her hands up in the air. I looked at Kai to see his reaction, but he kept on staring at Winter. I couldn't read his face. I made a move to close the link, when Kai stopped me. He gave me a look. That was all I needed.

"Explain," I commanded with disgust.

"Alright. you can trust these people," indicating the people behind her.

"Jacin-"

"I know what happened between you and Jacin, but he was manipulated. What happened on the roof was a mistake. He's on the same side as we are." She paused. I didn't react. "These people," she continued, "Are rebelling against Levana. They are no threat to our plans. They just want to help us."

"I don't get it. W-why would you think that we would believe you?" I was furious at her.

"Cinder," Kai whispered, "C'mon. Give them a chance. Maybe they could help us." I sighed and stared at him, disbelievingly.

"Kai, we don't know-"

"We'll keep you safe," the man blurted out. I stared at him, blankly. "We can hide you from Levana's watch. We're hidden. You can plot her downfall with us." I stared at him, pondering. I looked at Kai for guidance. Give them a chance, his words repeating in my mind.

"I-" A bang sounded in the hallway. We all turned our heads to the sound. I looked at Kai and he looked at me.

"I'll go check what's going on," he said. Just then, Wolf ran in and held up a ring of keys.

"We got them. Lets get the Rampion in to the hangar once it's dark. That way-" His eyes fell upon the netscreen. His eyes widened in surprise. "Cinder? What's going on?"

"Wolf, where are Cress and Thorne? I need to explain this to everyone," Winter spoke. Wolf didn't answer.

"Looks like your plan isn't working," Jacin muttered to the man.

"Shut up," he said. He looked angry. Then, Cress and Thorne stumbled in. Their hair was plastered against their faces with sweat, and they were gasping for air.

"I'm in purgatory," Thorne gasped out, laying himself on the floor.

"Wow," Jacin said, "To be honest, I don't think you can really get more pathetic than this."

Cress's and Thorne's eyes wandered to Winter and the strange people beside her. Cress's knees gave out under her and she closed her eyes. "Eh, you can handle it without me," Thorne said, before closing his eyes too. Kai tsked at him. After things calmed down, Winter explained everything to Wolf.

"So? You think we should trust them?" Kai asked. But Wolf didn't seem to listen. Instead, he was staring at the man behind Winter. He narrowed his eyes, and said, "I think we should trust them."

"Okay. I trust them," Kai said. "How about you, Cinder?"

I made up my mind. We have nowhere else to go, and we can't get found out by Levana. It's worth the risk. "I trust them."

"Wait," Cress asked feebly, regaining her energy. "We're doing a vote?"

"Yeah," Kai said. "So what do you think?" Cress narrowed her eyes and thought. We waited for her response silently.

Finally she announced, "I don't trust them. I think we need to play it safe."

"It doesn't matter anyway," Kai said, shrugging it off.

"But what about Thorne?"

"We're not going to count his."

"Why?"

"Because Thorne doesn't count as a person."

I laughed and hid my smile. "Whatever," I said, turning to Winter. "We trust you and them. But it's your fault if we get caught."

"You have my trust," Winter promised.
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Guys, I really think I'm getting more stupid. But that's beside the point. Man, this chapter is so fast and terrible, BUT, you guys liked the previous chapters, so I'm just going to leave it to you to judge. I'm not even gonna review this. Though I might rewrite this instead of writing chapter 11 though. BUT 6K READS!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! And, I know I haven't update for like 3 weeks. IM SORRY OK!!! And I'm pretty sure most of you are thinking but you said you're so excited to write this chapter. I KNOW!!! It's just that this chapter was, I don't known how to describe it, but if you write your own stories, you know what I'm talking about. So that's all I got to say this time soo...

Be prepared for the revolution,
FanGirlfortheLC