Muddy Waters

Author: ImSoAwesome

The reflection was hazy.

Bathed in the warm fog that covered the bathroom, its wispy white color almost made it feel like a dream - like maybe she was standing on clouds, the stairways to heaven. But when Ilia opened her eyes again, when she returned to a world she so desperately wanted to escape, her toes curled against the cold floor.

Another dream, another fantasy. Another day.

She sat at the edge of the tub, its inviting presence simply begging her to step in.

She stared into herself - the hazy image clearing as the steam abandoned her, leaving her to confront herself yet again. Grey eyes, withered yet aware - like she was looking for something that wasn't there, or saw something that no one else did.

Ilia didn't see anything when she looked in the water. It always came up blank.

She thought that she could figure out. That maybe the answer she was looking for was somewhere inside her and she just hadn't reached it. It was easy to look, but not to find. But maybe she'd fallen out of favor with some great deity, for she was as close to getting that answer as she was in the beginning.

A part of her wondered if running away like Blake would have been right. Maybe she could have found her, helped her - maybe they'd stick together. It'd be hard, but they'd been through worse, hadn't they?

Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought. And yet, she found her teeth grinding together too.

It was better that Blake had left. She was always a bleeding heart for humans - a trait Ilia found herself respecting... but not imitating. Blake's heart was always in the right place, even if her choices weren't the smartest. What, or rather, who she'd run from was a testament to that.

A fleeting smile; one that left her heart squeezing in her chest and even knowing how right she had been didn't make her feel better. How many times had she imagined how good it would feel to reaffirm to Blake about Adam. How satisfying it would be to see Blake admitting to choosing wrong, when there were much better options…

As much as she thought it would feel good, she knew it wouldn't. She knew that truth now, and maybe that was enough.

It had been there, the frustration. The lonely nights circumvented by desire, just her and a traitorous thought. Then the immediate anger and hurt that instead if her, she'd be making love with another. It wasn't easy to move past that, but comparably, it was a pain she could live with.

After all, Blake wasn't her family.

Of course, now this meant Blake would always be a target for the Fang - someone would find her eventually. She just hoped it wasn't Adam.

Or herself.

Ilia let out a light chuckle as she leaned against the wall, wrapping her arms around her leg. It was funny how different they were - too different, almost. Blake was a beauty. Ilia was plain. Blake had a blessed body, while Ilia failed to compare. Blake's skin was perfect, hers was blemished and spotty. Blake was strong, stronger than a lot of people she knew. Ilia had never been close to beating her.

Many a time did Ilia compare herself to Blake. And often she felt she came up short. But if Blake running away had taught her anything, it was that she had one thing over her.

Blake was a coward.

Ilia was not.

Violence wouldn't have been her first choice to confront the humans. But now, it was the only option their people had. Humans went on their everyday lives; happy and secure, making light of the troubles for faunuskind under the pretense of unenforced equal rights.

They'd all pay. Tenfold. Every one of them. From the politicians to the businessmen. From the teachers to the bakers. Men and women alike. All of them would know what the faunus could do.

Ilia could only imagine the disapproval of her parents. They'd never agreed with the White Fang, that was part of the reason they'd left Mistral. Many a time had Ilia asked why they never joined, and she could never forget her Dad's answer.

If we go through life thinking everything must be eye for eye, then there won't be a future to look forward to.

Ilia couldn't say she agreed.

Maybe if her parents did see it that way, they never would have sought jobs in the SDC. She'd still have them. Her Dad would still be able to kiss her forehead, and her Mom would be cradling her after a bad day of school.

But they hadn't. And now it was just her.

Her parents were gone, her only friend was gone - it was only Ilia and the bath water.

What would happen after all of this? When the smoke and fire finally cleared, a new world would be built for the faunus. New laws, new policies and living conditions. Not some remote continent on the edge of the world with no real way of life.

In that new world, would Ilia find something? Would she have a family of her own? A career?

Or would the water always be murky?

She didn't want it to be. It was hard to see through tainted water; everything was hidden, lost behind a veil of filth. Morals were twisted, beliefs were warped - and right in the middle of that mess was her, somewhere on the thin line, unsure of who she was.

Or who she could be.

The girl settled her hands on the counter, looking at both as water dripped from her hair. Warm, alive... like blood. Blood from a fresh kill, be it for a mission or for food. Soldiers, governors, race supremacists - all those who stood in the way of faunus-kind.

What pity should she feel for them? They did nothing to help the faunus and in fact, only exacerbated the problem. So why should Ilia care about their weeping families? Had a human come to help her when her parents died?

No, it had been a faunus to her rescue. One who showed her the way to make a difference.

Faunus had only each other to rely on. Humans were untrustworthy and selfish – maybe Ilia didn't like Adam, but he'd been right in saying that. The humans hadn't cared in the past, and they certainly didn't now.

But they would.

Ilia faced the water again, and the image was tranquil. The water had stopped moving, and now in that still picture she could see herself. She could still see the girl that cried as she buried her parents by hand. No shovel, no help, no money to buy a gravestone. Just her bare hands scraping through dirt and rock for days just to give her family the burial the SDC would not fund.

If she got her chance, the Schnee's would suffer slowly for that.

She wanted them to know how that feeling. That hopelessness burning in her chest. This time, it would be their families taken away! Parents and children, brothers and sisters… they'd be stripped away from each other for good. And then they'd know how it felt to be alone. To not have the love of their mothers, the strength of their fathers or the support of their siblings.

Ilia wanted to take it all away.

In the past, she'd given them a chance. When she'd tried to remain objective and perhaps come to understand humans.

No. That was over now.

Now, what they'd see would be the worst her. They'd all pay the price. But not with money, not compromise, or surrender or any other way humans thought to escape their sins.

The price was blood. Ilia wanted to be paid in full.

With interest.

Sup everyone and welcome to a three-shot fic based on a prompt from my Discord server. These are a series of one-shots written by different people with their own interpretations of Ilia as a character. I had a lot of fun writing mine and honestly over time, Ilia has become one of my favorite characters in the series.

I never told you guys my favorites, did I?

My top three are in this order: Roman, Jaune and Ilia

And my guilty pleasure? Cinder.

Now you know a little more about me. Anyway, I will be updating this fic every day until its done so if this interests you, read it all and I hope you enjoy it.

ISA