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Chapter 36: Paying Respects

The sun beamed down on those assembled in harsh juxtaposition to the tone of the event, warm and bright as if the climate of Vaccuo itself was mocking them for their loss. Gangrel stood in the crowd of black clad mourners slightly surprised to see a handful of humans interspersed with the gathered Faunus Felix it seemed had been well known and liked locally, forcing idle musings about whether or not these humans knew about Felix being a ranking officer of the White Fang Gangrel returned his attention to the end of the speech that the priest, a stocky Boar-Faunus with a weather beaten appearance was giving, Gangrel was not religious nobody from Atlas had much use for superstitions but some things were kept for traditions sake
"I would not take away from the grief you feel today, I would not say that everything is all right" the tanned and leathery skinned pastor began, his Vaccuan accent and the tusks protruding from his mouth turning his words into a twanging drawl "Because it is not and you know it, it would be cheap and cruel of me to deny that you hurt and will continue to hurt for a long time to come. Oum has made each of us so that we can feel and relate to each other and we here have all lost a loved one, yet I would like to offer some words of comfort for you all" Gangrel reached out and wrapped an arm around Luna squeezing her gently, Felixs' widow shook with silent tears the Bear-Faunus saw Blake on the other side of Luna gripping her hand as tears streamed down her own face
"Let not your hearts be troubled" the pastor continued "For though young Felix was taken from us far to soon and his body returns to Dust from which it came I ask you all to remember that he passed in the service of Oum performing an act of heroism and kindness towards another, his soul and Aura leave this befouled world to meet Oum and prepare a place for us all in the next life. Felix Sombre is an example that that which we should all strive to be so I ask all of you gathered here today that when presented with a choice in your own lives between that which you know to be right and that which is easy, remember Felix Sombre" Gangrel took several deep shuddering breaths as the sermon concluded, forcing himself to keep the stoic mask he'd been wearing throughout the service in tact as he walked with Blake and Luna towards the coffin it was a closed casket service due to the extent of the injuries Adams' Semblance had inflicted, nearing the ornate black box each of them placed a red Dust crystal around the edge Luna continued to sob and Gangrel desperately wished he knew what to say to her but the words wouldn't come
"Luna, you don't need to be here" Blake said as soothingly as she could through her own tears "You don't need to watch this" Luna choked back another sob
"Yes I do" she croaked out as they stepped back and allowed the other mourners to place their own fire Dust around the coffin, cremations were the usual method of disposing of bodies in Atlas and Luna said that despite moving to Vaccuo Felix should be given a true Atlesian funeral it was customary but not strictly necessary for the family and close friends of the deceased to stay around the pyre until it burned out Luna wiped her eyes and turned back towards the casket
"I need to be here Blake, you and Gangrel can go if you don't want to see this but I'm not leaving Felix until it's over" Blake squeezed her hand
"We're not going anywhere" Gangrel silently nodded in agreement as he watched a small group of Faunus in pinstriped suits surrounding a smaller Faunus in a white tuxedo place their Dust and pay their final respects, there was only one person he knew who would wear such a suit to the funeral of an old friend or come to said funeral with an armed entourage, the group then continued to surround their obvious leader as he approached the pastor
"That's him isn't it?" Blake asked under her breath
"Course it, who else would it be" Gangrel growled back "I'll talk to him when everyone has laid their Dust" looking around many of those who had attended were leaving, mere acquaintances rather than true friends those that remained gradually surrounded the casket at a safe distance, Gangrel lost sight of the white suited Faunus and slowly moved away from Blake and Luna to look for him discreetly as the pastor stepped forwards to do the honours
"I had to tell the Vaccuan fuck if he pronounces this wrong I'm gonna cut his throat" someone with a broad Lower Atlesian accent said conversationally behind him Gangrel turned to see the white suited Faunus, fedora lowered over his face and shoes polished to be near reflective in the sunlight flanked by his bodyguards Gangrel gave him a brief nod by way of greeting as the Pastor spoke once again
"Wir kehren zuruck zu staub und licht" he pronounced the old Atlesian perfectly before lighting the Dust crystals and stepping away as flames began to engulf the coffin
"Guess you don't get to cut his throat then Fagin" Gangrel smirked as he turned to see the rat Faunus had removed his hat, revealing narrow pale green eyes sunk deep into his thin bony face and protruding front teeth that jutted over his bottom lip when his mouth was closed, one of which had a silver cap over it
"You address the boss as Mister Grey or Sir" one of the bodyguards said, Gangrel fixed him with a cold glare looking at his face and canine like ears before smirking
"I don't suppose you have a little brother who got knocked out in an alleyway recently?" the bodyguard made to step forward before Fagin stopped him
"Lucky I suggest you think this through, we're here to pay respects to someone who was not just a captain in our establishment but also a good friend of mine, Mister Slate here is another good friend of mine. One more fuck up from you and I put you at the bottom of the bay in a concrete overcoat, understand?"
"Yes Mister Grey" Lucky said simply, head hanging in shame
"Good now go sit in the car, in fact all of you go" the entourage silently left, Fagin replaced his hat and gave Gangrel a calculating look
"Y'know Gang getting off the train and beating the snot out of one of my guys is a good way to get my attention, just not the kind you want"
"We need to talk Fagin" Gangrel said
"That's what we're doing now"
"No I mean properly, I'm calling a sit down" Fagin raised an eyebrow at that, a sit down was usually a way to try and peacefully mediate disputes over turf and control of rackets between White Fang officers
"Okay tonight then, don't drink too much at the wake" Fagin told him "Who are the other parties?"
"Myself and Blake"
"Adams' ex Blake?" Fagin said disbelieving
"Blake that all of us grew up with not just Adam" Gangrel retorted "And Luna as well, she deserves to know everything, but Fagin I need a favour"
"You've got some balls asking-" the Bear-Faunus raised a hand to silence the rat
"I've got some pictures of what happened in Vale that'll make things clear just don't let Luna see them, she needs to know but there's a reason this funeral was closed casket" Fagin slowly nodded before turning to leave shooting one last comment over his shoulder
"Okay but let's make one thing clear, whatever the outcome of this sit down is you and Blake get the fuck out of Vaccuo tonight and don't ever come into my patch without my say so again"

Professor Ozpin sighed as he placed his mug down on the desk and peered over his shoulder at the man standing before him with their back straight and hand behind their back, taking the papers that had been placed on his desk and skimming through them
"I see" the headmaster said with ghost of a smile tugging at his lips "It would seem that your transition from the battlefield to command has given you a taste for politics, I must congratulate you on both your appointment and the finesse it no doubt took you to acquire it James" General Ironwood held his hands out apologetically
"Ozpin my old friend I never came here intending for this"
"But you did bring an adequate fleet for the job just in case" Ozpin countered softly
"If it is any consolation" Ironwood bristled slightly at the implications "The council of Vale were considering an inquest that could affect your position as headmaster; I argued that since unlike Atlas, Beacon academy is a separate entity to the government of the Kingdom to do so would be a show of cowardice and unwillingness to face responsibility on their part. Your hunters were the first to arrive on the scene and took charge of the situation admirably"
"Yes Mister Slate lead the counter attack well, placing himself in the thickest part of the fighting and using the skills of those accompanying him to great effect" Ozpins' smile grew as Ironwood looked uncomfortable "But you still wish to detain him don't you James?"
"He is a Lower Atlesian Faunus who seems to have a habit of being wherever the White Fang are, I have been given the duty of ensuring that the public are safe for the duration of the Vytal Festival, it would be remiss of me to not detain him"
"Detain him on what grounds?"
"These people are always involved in something, it shouldn't be hard to find a reason" Ironwood said dismissively
"I warn you now James I will tolerate no racial prejudice in my school these people as you put it are my students, many Faunus serve in your military do they not"
"They have a gift for violence, it makes sense to find an application for it" Ironwood made the decision to stop talking when he felt the air pressure shift somewhat looking at Ozpins' hands he saw the eerie green light beginning to shine from them and the mug he was holding being reduced to a lattice of cracks, when the headmaster next spoke the General swore his voice echoed despite the room having no such acoustics before
"Gangrel Slate made some bad decisions early in his life due circumstances pressed upon him, he is not the first to do so nor will he be the last however he has since gone on to seek to correct those mistakes, he has fought against the White Fang on several occasions and has provided usable information on their activities, I will allow you to question my student and you will bear these facts in mind when you speak to him"
"I see that I was right in convincing the council to allow you to remain as Headmaster" Ironwood said with a tense smile on his face "Your dedication to your students is admirable, I just hope it will not be at the expense of the rest of us" the General turned on his heel to leave, Ozpin halting him with some final words
"Oh and General, your displays of power may impress the general public however as you yourself have noted Mister Slate is a Faunus raised in Lower Atlas, they will only antagonise him which I can assure you would be counterproductive" Ironwood grimaced as he conceded that Ozpin had a point and he as yet had nothing to use as leverage
"I understand. Thankfully I have a few students I believe know him one of them is currently aboard my ship, I'll have her approach him when he returns to Vale"

Gangrel, Blake and Luna sat around one of the tables in the café that Luna and Felix had ran prior to his death Luna hadn't reopened the business yet and had confided to Blake that she was unsure if she would do so. The Vaccuo sun had finally set and the three Faunus waited silently for Fagin to arrive the tension between them palpable, it was not entirely out of the realm of possibility that the Rat Faunus would simply have the building fire bombed or shot up rather than attend the meeting, they were old friends however and Gangrel hoped that counted for something. Eventually the sound of car pulling onto the street and stopping outside could be heard, the front door had been left unlocked and moments later Fagin Grey entered flanked by two bodyguards carrying shotguns under their jackets
"They wait outside" Gangrel said simply
"This isn't Vale jackass, Mister Grey calls the shots here" one of the bodyguards spat, the Bear-Faunus simply rolled his eyes
"This is the best hired help you could find Fagin? Tell him what's going to happen if I have to get out of this chair" Fagin merely smirked
"Wait outside boys, make sure nobody tries to steal the car"
"Are you sure boss?" the bodyguard was rewarded with a backhanded slap
"Question me again and see what happens" the two body guards slunk out of the café as the door closed behind them Fagin removed his jacket and placed it over the back of his seat before making himself comfortable
"Y'know something Gang" he started "I'm starting to get real fucking sick of your attitude real fucking quick, I've got orders straight from the top to shoot you and Blake on sight. I decide to hear you out for old times sake and you keep running your mouth off to my crew, I don't know what they teach you in that Hunter school but you're not as untouchable as you like to think you are"
"Fagin calm down" Blake said softly, he narrowed his eyes as he turned to her
"I'm having a hard time staying calm when I'm sat at table with a pair of traitors" he turned back to Gangrel "Especially when I hear one of them is fucking a Schnee" the Bear-Faunus' knuckles could be heard popping at that comment but he forced himself to stay calm as he spoke
"I came here to make you a business proposition" all eyes were on Gangrel at that point, Fagin pulled a cigar from his pocket and held it between his teeth while he searched for a lighter motioning for Gangrel to continue
"Vaccuo is a dumping ground for every White Fang has been that can't show their face around their own turf any more, you never wanted to run this place"
"You make an interesting point and yet I'm still edging closer towards slapping the shit out of you" Fagin interrupted
"Adam has gone off the deep end allying himself with people that are trying to take over the world and hoping they'll give him a piece of it afterwards, you were never a revolutionary Fagin you're just a money grabbing crook. That's why I'm making this offer, the White Fang in Vale are crippled and I know Adam will be asking you for anyone you can spare; do what you can to limit his resources and movements and when this is over I'm going to give you Vales' underworld" Blake looked utterly outraged
"Gang what the fuck are you doing?" she hissed
"It's called business" Fagin chuckled "You make an interesting offer Gang, but I'm still wondering what makes you think I'd turn my back on Adam?"
"Adams' turned his back on us" Blake said simply, Gangrel placed a small collection of photographs on the table face down the rat took them and looked through them, years of crime and violence had desensitised him to such things but emotion still flickered across his face
"What the fuck is this?" he demanded, his voice low and dangerous
"That's what he had some of his business partners people do to Tukson, the rest are from the breach" Fagin continued to scan the images, clearly disturbed
"He told me the breach was an accident, a smuggling system he set up went wrong and the Grimm got loose"
"He lied to you" Blake said simply "I was on that train, he fitted it with bombs and ploughed it straight into the heart of the Kingdom, with our people still on-board"
"My people" Fagin corrected "Not yours, either of yours. You made your choices" Fagin looked at the last photograph, eyes widening in alarm then narrowing in anger
"This the photo you told me to never let Luna see Gang? What the fuck are you thinking showing me shit like this?"
"What photo? Let me see" Luna demanded snatching it from Fagin, hand flying to her mouth as she realised what the image portrayed, the photo was an image taken from the Bull-Head Team GRAP and CFVY had flown to the breach, the image showed Felix after Adams' Semblance had hit him, his body on the floor in pieces, arms removed above the elbow where the attack had cleaved through his chest
"Grimm didn't do that" she whispered as tears filled her eyes
"No" Gangrel said simply "Adam did" Fagin leaned forwards eyes glinting malevolently
"Are you telling me that son of a bitch murdered one of our people, not just a grunt in a mask but one of us" solemn nods from Blake and Gangrel answered him
"That son of a bitch!" he raged "I let him not breaking Harry out of the slammer go, I let him not hunting that Mistrali whore Pitch down after what she did to Kai go! Now I'm done, you hunt that fucker down and you make sure he dies slow, you open him up and pull him apart before you let the fucker die you hear me Gang?"
"I already hacked one of his arms off" the Bear-Faunus remarked
"So you'll help us?" Blake asked
"I'll do what I can!" Fagin spat as tried to get his temper under control "He's been asking me to send some recruits his way, Vaccuo isn't under control the way Atlas is I'm going to have to start something with one of the other crews here and use that as an excuse to say I can't send him anyone, I've got old Gut under control though so I can have anything or anyone Adam ships here dealt with"
"Who or what is old Gut?" Blake asked
"Captain Gut Wukong" Fagin clarified "Head of border patrol around the bay, corrupt as they come but I've got something on him"
"What is it?" Gangrel asked, not liking the sound of the situation
"The whole Wukong family are a bunch of thieves, his boy especially. I let Sun Wukong pick pockets in my turf for a percentage, little fucker didn't kick up for three months then shipped out to Mistral to be a hunter, Captain Gut owes me favours as long as the blonde little shit he raised is still breathing"
"We've met Sun Wukong, I'll tell him you said hello" Gangrel grinned
"So onto long term business" Fagin sighed "I'm not moving against Adam directly, I'm not a Hunter like you I don't have the Aura, or resources for that kind of shit. I'll run interference and hook you up with whatever you need that I can get, in return you're giving me Vale so tell me; what's Vale looking like these days" Gangrel leaned forwards
"The only people left with any pull are the White Fang and the Black Bear Syndicate, you don't mind working with humans when there's a profit and you understand the rules of the game; Junior runs the syndicate but he'll be willing to play ball with anyone who helps get rid of Adam and his operations are strictly Vale based. You show up in Vale with Vaccuo border patrol in your pocket and you'll have him eating out of the palm of your hand, silent takeover and a cross Kingdom turf overnight" a cruel smile played across the Rat Faunus' face
"I like the way you think Gang, this Hunter shit is a waste of your talents you should work for me and make some real money" he looked at Luna who was still staring silently at the photographs of the breach
"Gang Blake I'll get you your train tickets, I need to talk to Luna about arrangements"
"Arrangements?" Gang asked
"Train tickets?" Blake asked, Fagin rolled his eyes
"Insurance job on the house Adam bought Luna and Felix, what's going to happen with this place, financial stability….Felix was based in Vaccuo, that makes his family my responsibility" the rats' eyes held a haunted expression for a moment before he turned to Blake "And yes train tickets, I told Gang earlier you get the fuck out of my turf and I don't wanna see either of you here around here again. Nothing but bad news"

Authors Notes:

Okay the funeral was tricky to write since we don't know anything really about religion on Remnant and also I'm not religious, I wanted to write a speech that didn't sound too preachy if that makes sense.
Cremation is preferred to burial because you 'return to Dust' and also, in Lower Atlas there probably isn't a lot of space available to bury people when parts of the Kingdom are already underground.
The German/Old Atlesian the priest said was 'Wir kehren zuruck zu staub und licht' or 'We return to dust and light'
Ironwood is casually racist.
Fagin Grey is a different kind of White Fang to Adam, he's less revolutionary leader more Faunus Mafia, hence the Mafia style sit down between them.
Also, Fagin isn't supposed to be likeable
Yes 'Captain Gut Wukong' is Suns' father and a reference to Peter Dinklage's character in Ice Age Four.
Gangrel just turned one of Adams' top ranking officers against him, Fagin runs Vaccuo, Gangrel offered him control of Vale once Adam is dealt with

Thank you to Drake187 for their review of the last chapter, I hope the funeral wasn't too much feels for you (Okay I'm lying I feed on the feels of my audience)
Velvet has indeed grown as a character and will continue to do so.
As for Adam, well the White Fang is a little broken in Vale at this point and he never actually met any of Velvets' family besides her brother.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.