“You can’t trust me because I can’t trust you.” Nightshade pulled her violet cloak tighter around her shoulders as she spoke, staring out beneath black bangs at the person seated across from her. The carriage’s thin wooden walls did little to keep the biting winter wind out and Nightshade suppressed the urge to curl into a ball and hide away. She was here on business. At least, she was, before she got caught.

“No need to be so aggressive,” The person across from her put their hands up with a smile, chains clanking against the metal floor when they moved. “All I’m saying is that we’re in a very similar situation here. Come on, surely you’d be happy to get out of here!”

Nightshade scowled. The person was dressed in fancy attire, with far too many ruffles for her taste. They had medium-length silver hair, most likely dyed, dark eyes, and sharp features accented by dagger-shaped earrings. From the looks of it, they were some sort of noble. The kind of uptight person who slept on silken sheets while others froze to near-death in the alleyways of their city. The kind of person Nightshade loved to steal from. Despite this appearance, however, they were similarly chained by their ankles to a cold metal seat, their belongings confiscated, and their future in jeopardy.

“You can spin all the lies you like, stranger, but I’m not telling you a thing about myself.” Nightshade forced a confident look onto her face.

“I think you’re just being bitter that you got caught,” They relaxed their arms, leaning forward. “And if you really want to test how much you can ‘trust’ me, I could yell out to the guards that you’ve still got a dagger tucked inside your boot.”

“Shut up!” Nightshade hissed, immediately shuffling her foot so that the weapon was better concealed. The person laughed, a genuine sound, and Nightshade felt her skin prickle with annoyance. Whoever this person was, they were incredibly irritating.

“But I won’t. See? I’ve just helped you!” They grinned, seeming both childish and dangerous at the same time. Nightshade narrowed her eyes. “I’m Raven, by the way.”

“Nightshade.” Nightshade responded, her tone flat. Raven raised an eyebrow before cracking another smile.

“Nightshade, huh?” Raven asked. “What do you get up to, poisoning people?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“A bit on the nose, isn’t it?” Raven’s tone was mocking, but not wholeheartedly aggressive.

“I hate you.” Nightshade crossed her arms and leaned back against the splintering wood behind her.

“You’ve only just met me,” Raven clutched their chest like they’d been stabbed. Their theatrics were starting to make Nightshade consider asking one of the guards to transport them separately. “That seems rather harsh!”

“Well, I think it’s rather fitting.” Nightshade mimicked Raven’s accent, a staple of the upper class they seemed to belong to. Raven seemed to give up after that.

They sat in silence for some time, then, as the cold began to seep into their bones. Raven occupied themself by fidgeting with the cuffs around their ankles while Nightshade tried to figure out where they were headed. It had been hours since the pair was arrested outside a run-down bar on the outskirts of the city. Nightshade had been hiding away after a particularly disastrous attempt at stealing jewelry from a banker’s house when she had run into Raven. They seemed to have been in a hurry and weren’t looking at where they were going. The two of them collided just as the guards found Nightshade. For whatever reason, they arrested Raven, too. Something about them being valuable for a separate case. Raven broke the silence just as Nightshade began to shiver.

“Have you ever been arrested before?” They asked, having abandoned the metal cuffs, frustrated. Nightshade looked up from staring at her hands.

“Once, when I was new to everything. Got taken in for pickpocketing and let out with just a warning. I’ve been much more careful since then.” Nightshade paused before continuing, considering her words. “What about you?”

“Oh, dozens of times!” Raven gave a wicked smile. Nightshade felt her heart drop. She got the sense that she was in the presence of someone much more experienced, and dangerous, than her. “You get used to it after a while, I suppose.”

Nightshade simply nodded. Maybe she was lucky, then, that the guards caught her. If Raven was dangerous, she’d much rather be here than in some forgotten alleyway, where there wouldn’t be anyone to hear her scream. She couldn’t help but wonder why Raven was being transported in a carriage of such poor quality if they were so dangerous. Nightshade paused her morbid what-ifs as she realized that Raven was still smiling, and she glared at them.

“And just like that, you’ve told me a bit about yourself!” Raven started to laugh again as Nightshade buried her face in her hands.

“I hate you.” Nightshade repeated herself, utterly miserable. Raven’s attitude had quickly given her a pounding headache that was almost worse than the cold. Raven made a show of wiping an imaginary tear from their eye as Nightshade stared daggers at them from between her fingers.

“Alright, alright.” Raven took a deep breath. “Now that we’ve exchanged trust, how about we get out of this wretched carriage?”

Nightshade didn’t speak for a long moment, considering her options. On the one hand, Raven was far too eager to team up for her taste, and their whole demeanor was incredibly off-putting. On the other hand, Nightshade had no idea where they were headed. They should have been taken to the police station within the city, but they seemed to be far beyond the walls by now.

“Fine.” Nightshade finally muttered through gritted teeth. At the very least, they could escape together, and then Nightshade would abandon them the second she got the chance. Maybe the guards would even pay her for information on Raven, once she got home.

“Perfect!” Raven stretched their arms, apparently preparing to do something. Nightshade didn’t know what to expect, maybe a superhuman show of strength as they broke the chains, or some expert-level deception to trick the guards into something. She certainly wasn’t expecting them to cup their hands around their mouth and shout. “Hey, guards! This girl’s got a dagger on her!”

“What the he-” Nightshade was about to shout back, but Raven shook their head wildly. The carriage slowed to a stop, and Nightshade could hear the guards talking. Her skin burned with anger, maybe even betrayal, as Raven leaned forward.

“For both our sakes, please continue being difficult.” Raven said with a wink as they sat back in their seat as the carriage door swung open, revealing an armored guard and a flurry of snow.

“It is required that you both stay put.” The guard said sharply as he stepped up into the carriage. He was tall, threatening, and fully outfitted in the city’s blue and gold uniform. He pointed an accusatory finger at Nightshade. “Have you got a weapon?”

“I, uh…” Nightshade felt fear overpower her anger, but saw Raven nod encouragingly from behind the guard. She took a deep breath and once again tried to make herself seem confident. “That’s none of your business, is it?”

The guard made an angry remark and begrudgingly started searching Nightshade again. Nightshade could see Raven in the corner of her eye, apparently messing with the cuffs on their ankles again. Nightshade focused on moving her foot in such a way that the guard couldn’t reach it until she heard a distinct clicking sound. Instinctively, she shoved the guard away from her and towards Raven, who was free of their shackles and now standing on the metal bench. They swung their leg up and kicked the guard in the back, pushing him out of the carriage and into the snow. While he yelled out to the other guards and got back to his feet, Raven shoved an iron key into the cuffs Nightshade was stuck in.

“It’ll be a close call, but I think we’ll be just fine.” Raven muttered as the metal fell away. Nightshade retrieved her dagger and stood up just in time to see two more guards join the first one. She considered her options as Raven took a step forward, holding their fists up.

Nightshade gripped her weapon. The guards brandished spears, and she was sure Raven would have no chance of fending them off with just their fists. In a moment of bravery, or perhaps stupidity, Nightshade grabbed onto the back of Raven’s expensive-looking jacket with her free hand and pulled. She rammed her shoulder into the wooden wall of the carriage, which splintered and broke. The pair tumbled out the side of the carriage and Nightshade felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as she landed in a pile of snow and ice, but she stood up quickly nonetheless. Raven looked more annoyed than anything as they brushed snow off of their finely tailored pants. Nightshade rolled her eyes at them before throwing her dagger at a line of rope near the front of the carriage, which snapped.

“I had it under control.” Raven gave Nightshade a gentle shove before breaking into a full sprint. Nightshade smiled, for whatever reason, and bolted towards the treeline after them.

Just as Nightshade had hoped, the commotion had startled the two horses pulling the carriage, and her dagger had released one. Nightshade heard the sounds of panicked guards trying to wrangle their horses, and was relieved that it didn’t sound like she was being followed. She kept running after Raven, even when her lungs burned from the cold air and her feet were numb. Finally, Raven slowed to a stop. Remarkably, they didn’t seem out of breath at all.

“Where are we-” Nightshade took a breath as she leaned on the frozen trunk of a tree to stabilize herself. “-going?”

“Hmm…” Raven’s face scrunched up in thought. They shrugged. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

“Then I’m gonna, uh, sit down for a bit.” Nightshade slid down into the snow, not even caring if her clothes got soaked. After a minute or two, once she had mostly caught her breath, she looked back up at Raven, who was staring at her. “Where’d the key come from, anyway?”

“Took it from the guard when he was facing you.” Raven explained, sitting down on an ice-covered rock. “He wasn’t the most observant.”

“Fair enough.” Nightshade nodded. Raven stretched their arms before looking at Nightshade expectantly.

“I believe I’m owed a ‘thank you’.” They said, and that itching annoyance that Nightshade had just been able to shake off came flooding back.

“What?” Nightshade resisted the urge to start yelling. “If I’m remembering correctly, I’m the one who got us out of that death trap!”

“And I told you, I had it under control!” Raven countered, though they didn’t look that upset. They seemed amused more than anything.

“What were you going to do? Punch them?” Nightshade kicked a puff of snow towards Raven, who then looked mildly annoyed.

“Um. Yeah?” They shrugged, also kicking the snow at their feet towards the other. “You could’ve just left me, you know. I would’ve been fine.”

“Well…” Nightshade paused. Why had she pulled Raven out with her? She knew that they were dangerous, so why risk her own life for theirs? It would have been easy for her to leave them in the carriage while she took off, maybe even stealing one of the horses, and she wouldn’t have looked back.

Except Nightshade got the feeling that she would have looked back. Wondered if a pair of fists would be enough to fend off three fully armed guards. And she might have even felt guilty. It was incredibly out of character for her, especially since she had spent nearly the entire trip arguing with Raven. Maybe she did have some kind of conscience tucked away, after all. She decided that this would be the only time she would let that slip through.

“Forget it. We call it even, we get back to the city, and we pretend this never happened.” Nightshade sighed, starting to shiver as the wind picked up.

“Deal.” Raven smiled, reaching out their hand. Begrudgingly, Nightshade shook it. For whatever reason, it felt colder than the snow she was sitting in.