So, if there's anyone left that doesn't want to murder Watts... uh...


104. Bonds


Kali had never been so glad that the other kingdoms tended to ignore Menagerie.

"—massive breach allowed hundreds of Grimm into Mistral. Damages were even worse in Vale and Vacuo, where the only support came from rogue riders and local militias. Atlas itself is undamaged, but Mantle's death toll may be higher than that of any other kingdom due to weaknesses in its walls..."

The holoscreen still cycled through the same four clips it had been playing for the past several hours. A Council rider lashing her whip around the tusk of a Goliath, Sabyrs swarming over Mantle's defenses like a living wave, Atlesian flight squads wrestling gigantic Blind Worms in Vacuo... and the explosion at the Council Headquarters in Mistral.

Kali hadn't been paying much attention. She'd left the news on while she made tea, just in case there was some new development. But she glanced up when she noticed a new clip. It was of the same incident, Cinder Fall's final act, but at a different angle.

It was gone in a flash, replaced with the standard clip. But Kali had caught a glimpse of something, right after the bomb went off. She stared at the screen, waiting, and sure enough the same video returned. Cinder's dive, Ragnar's howl of fury, and then a wave of fire that made the cameraman stumble. The view went sideways as the camera fell, revealing the silhouette of a massive dragon, and—

The blood drained from her face. "Ghira? Ghira!"

She lunged for the remote, but it was too late. Kali had to wait for it to come around again, while Ghira thundered down the stairs. "What is it?" he asked.

The news station had cut to the anchor. Kali swore and started flicking from channel to channel—most of them were still covering the disaster. There! She lunged for the pause button.

There was no mistaking it, now that she knew what she was looking for. A small figure silhouetted by the explosion, stumbling back, then turning their head just so... hardly any of the face was visible, but Kali knew. After all this time, there was Blake—with a fully grown dragon, in the middle of an inferno.

She pointed, and Ghira sucked in a breath. "Is that—?"

They rewatched the clip over and over, but there was nothing more than they'd already seen—only those few frames of Blake backing away from the explosion before the footage cut off. Newscasters talked about lower casualties in Mistral... but they also talked about lives lost in the explosion.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, another clip began to circulate, this one of the aftermath of the bombing. The image was shaking along with whoever was filming, but they could catch glimpses of the same dragon that had been with Blake earlier. Its bulk blocked their daughter from view most of the time, but Kali spotted her twice as it crouched down to dig at the rubble.

All the tension rushed out of her in one exhale, and she had to grab Ghira's arm to steady herself. Blake was alive. She had a dragon, and she was... what? A rogue rider? Or had the White Fang decided to help?

Kali was still hovering over the holoscreen, scouring every second of footage for any sign of her daughter, when she heard a heavy thud somewhere outside. Ghira tensed. He approached the balcony slowly, crouched in a defensive stance. She followed him with a frying pan in her hand.

The door opened. Outside was dark and quiet, with no sign of any intruder. "Who's there?" Ghira demanded.

A dragon's head popped over the railing.

Kali and Ghira both stumbled back. The frying pan dropped from her hand—it would be useless against a dragon. Then a familiar voice hissed, "Brand!"

The dragon craned its neck over its back and grabbed something. There was a startled squeak that definitely hadn't come from a human or a faunus. When it swung its head back up over the balcony, there was another, much smaller dragon dangling from the first one's jaws. It dropped its passenger on the balcony and turned around again—this time to place Sienna Khan gently on their doorstep.

"What are you doing here?" Ghira asked warily. "I thought the White Fang had moved its operations out of Menagerie."

"It did." Sienna dusted herself off and glanced behind her. "Brand, stay there. And... try not to be too conspicuous."

The dragon, which was quite a bit bigger than most of the houses in Menagerie, tilted its head to one side as it considered that. Then it grabbed a few branches of a nearby tree in its mouth and pulled them closer to its body. Its bright orange body.

Sienna heaved a sigh and turned to face the Belladonnas. "Can we come in?"

'We' turned out to include the smaller dragon. It was a timid, twitchy little thing, and when it tripped over Kali's frying pan on the way in, sparks jumped.

She stared at it. "That's... not a normal elemental, is it?"

"No." Sienna moved into the hallway and leaned against a wall. "She was injected with lightning Dust. Not a hybrid, technically, but still illegal."

The dragon peeped and sniffed Ghira's hand. He pulled away with a wince and a little pop.

Sienna cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to barge in on you like this."

"It's no trouble," Kali assured her. "Would you like anything? Tea? Or, well, I don't know how long you've been flying. Are you hungry?"

"No, thank you."

Kali nodded. "Alright. Then let's cut right to the chase—why are you here?"

Sienna glanced at the dragon—her dragon. They really had done it, hadn't they? "I think you might have been right," she said bluntly. "About moving slower. Adam's path... it hasn't been going very well."

Ghira scowled. "I agree—but that isn't why you're really here, is it? He died a while ago."

She shook her head. "You aren't wrong, but that doesn't mean his methods have. We... we have an opportunity, right now. The kind he would have killed for." Another glance at the dragon. "But we've been losing a lot of members. Trustworthy faunus who abandon the cause. And..." She hesitated. "Dragons who abandon their riders."

"I've never heard of a dragon doing that."

Sienna tried for a wry smirk, but in one sentence it seemed like he'd aged her ten years. "That's because it's unheard of. At this point I have to wonder if it's not the ones who left that are the problem. I still don't agree with you on how the Fang should operate... but I can't deny that it's gone wrong. I need your help."

Ghira's eyebrows shot up. "Of course," he said.

"On one condition," added Kali. Sienna turned to her, suddenly guarded.

"Yes?"

"What. The hell. Happened to our daughter."


Sienna and the new faunus moved into the open air to talk. Flux trotted after them, wincing when she had to climb over the big metal pan that sparked whenever she touched it. There was no sign of Brand—not until she poked her head over the railing and found him curled up in a ball beside the house.

Her ears drooped. Harbinger said he'd been doing better than he was, since she and Gigas had hatched... but he hadn't been eating well since the attack. She watched him as his broad back rose and fell.

Kali cleared her throat. "Are you bonded to two dragons, then?"

Sienna looked away. "This is Brand. He belonged to Adam before he died." She leaned against the railing, staring down at the sleeping dragon. "Blake had... disagreements with him about how he was running things. Mostly the lab where he was trying to create new hybrids."

A hand came down to scratch Flux behind the ear. She purred and thumped her back leg against the balcony.

"What sort of disagreements?" Ghira demanded.

Sienna sighed. "I'm not sure. They didn't talk about it in front of other people very often, but things must have escalated because she disappeared about a year ago. Took one of the eggs with her, too. From there she ended up at Beacon, and after it was attacked... I'm not sure how, but she found us again. A group of former students and Professors showed up, wrecked the camp and arrested the Lieutenant. From there, I honestly have no idea. I haven't seen her since."

"We saw her on the news," said Kali. "She was in Mistral, fighting."

"That was Ironwood's group, then. Winter Schnee was one of the riders who attacked us, and she's with him. Blake's probably in Atlas right now."

Flux's ears perked up.

"Brand," she hissed. "Brand! Wake up!"

He snorted and cracked one eye open. "What?"

She turned back to the three faunus and gestured with her tail for him to listen.

"Atlas..." Kali glanced at Ghira.

"That's part of the favor I wanted to ask you both," Sienna went on. "Cinder is gone, but the way things are going we're still going to have a war on our hands. Some of us see it as an opportunity, to play both sides against one another and then defeat the winner once they're exhausted."

Ghira's back straightened. "Inviting the Grimm onto all our doorsteps."

"Exactly. And, frankly? The Council are in a weak position right now, but that's going to change very quickly once they start forcing new riders through. If this drags out, they'll win." Sienna scowled. "So it comes down to a choice between two unappealing options. And... as much as it kills me to say this, I'd rather take my chances on Ironwood and his collection of Schnees."

"Would you?" Kali raised an eyebrow. "That's new."

Sienna's lip curled. "It's not as if I like it. But they're the ones upsetting the status quo, so they're the ones who are going to make serious changes once this is all over if they get their way. And I'd like to be able to push some of those changes."

Ghira nodded. "I see."

"I don't." Kali narrowed her eyes at Sienna. "There's something else going on here."

Sienna glanced down at Flux, then out over the railing. "It's the least worst option. That's all."

"Mm."

"What was that favor you wanted, then?" Ghira asked. "You know we aren't riders."

"No... but I would guess you want to go to Atlas." Sienna gestured at Brand, who watched the exchange through slitted eyes. "Someone has to make the offer. I don't trust them enough to put my neck on the line, but you two left the movement early. They have nothing to hold you on, and if they want to keep your daughter happy they'll have to treat you well. All I'm asking is that you pass what I've told you on to Ironwood."

The Belladonnas exchanged a look. Then Ghira stuck his hand out, and Sienna shook it.

Brand huffed steam. "I'm not going to Atlas," he said, shutting his eyes. "Especially not with three people."

Flux jumped over the railing and landed on his back, to startled exclamations from the Belladonnas. "Brand!" she whined. "Didn't you hear them? Blake went to Atlas! And the Schnees, and all the riders that attacked us! And you know who else?"

His head came up.

"Gigas!" Sparks jumped between her feet and his scales as she darted up and down his spine. "We know where he is and we can get him!"

"Stop that," he grunted, and she hopped back to the ground. Brand rose to his feet and stretched. Muscles stood out in his hind legs and chest, and his wings flared wide. "You're right." The grass under his feet began to smoke. "We do..."

"Of course," Sienna said, to something one of the Belladonnas had asked her. She led them closer to Brand and helped Kali into his saddle. "It's a peaceful mission."

Brand stood up and rolled his shoulders, getting a feel for the extra weight on his back. "To hell with peaceful," he snarled, his eyes bright and alive in a way Flux had never seen them before. "We're going to get him back."


"This is insanity," Corsac snarled. "Our inner circle cannot have been half traitors."

"Sister Sienna told us she needed to think. Perhaps if we give her time—" Fennec tried to say, but his brother cut him off.

"Time? Time to do what, exactly? We gave Sister Ilia plenty of time to bring a Schnee to our doorstep!"

Harbinger whined and bumped his nose against Corsac's back. He hated when his riders fought...

"It's only been a day, brother. For all we know she—" He stopped, and Harbinger's ears perked up at the sound of wingbeats. They all hurried out of the tent, to find Brand landing near the back of the camp.

There were three faunus on his back.

"What has she done?" Fennec hissed, his ears going back.

Corsac waved off the other Fang members that had started to gather round, and waited until they'd dispersed before he strode out to meet the newcomers. "Brother Ghira. Sister Kali. This is certainly a surprise." He leveled a ferocious glare at Sienna. Harbinger inched behind Fennec, but he stopped trying to hide when Flux leaped from Brand's head and glided towards him.

"Corsac. Fennec." The big man nodded down at them.

"With all due respect..." Corsac's tail twitched. "Why are you here?"

"My invitation," Sienna interjected, and slid from Brand's back.

Corsac flashed a false smile and then dragged her off to the side, out of easy earshot.

"Why weren't we informed of this?" Fennec demanded.

"It was... a spur of the moment idea. I'm sure you heard that Cinder has already fallen."

"While we sat idle because two thirds of our dragons were gone."

"She wouldn't have lasted long," Sienna said firmly. "It was over the moment that footage was leaked. And instead of trying to make progress or protect her supporters, she did whatever she could, sacrificed everything, to do as much damage as possible." Her mouth twisted into a scowl. "It didn't work very well."

Corsac's whole body went stiff with anger. "What do you suggest then?" he gritted out. "Since you seem to have appointed yourself our new leader."

"We can't keep this fight going. The longer it lasts, the more certain it is that the Council will win." Sienna shrugged. "It seems to me that our best bet is the side that already plans on making changes. I think we should help Ironwood."

Fennec scoffed. "You want to use our forces, our dragons, to oust the Council? In favor of Ironwood and his two Schnees?"

"It's that, or throw our lot in with the Council."

"No," Corsac said flatly. "The window of opportunity may have narrowed with Cinder's death, but it hasn't closed. We can still play them against one another and draw out the conflict while we grow our strength."

Harbinger felt a sharp pain in his tail, and yelped. Flux had grabbed it in her teeth and was tugging him towards Brand. "What are you doing? And what's going on? Why is Sienna trying to help humans?"

"It doesn't matter," Flux said. "Come on! We know where Gigas is!"

"What?!"

"All those riders with Ilia took him, right? Sienna knows where they are now! And she wants to go there!"

Harbinger's wings flared. "But—why? Wouldn't she have said something earlier?"

"I don't know." Flux gave his tail another yank. "Hurry up!"

He took an involuntary step towards Brand. "But—but—who are the Council? Who's Ironwood?"

"Who cares?!"

Harbinger blinked. If in a couple of days, he and Flux and Brand could be exactly where Gigas was... he supposed it didn't really matter who any of these people were. Plus, there were supposed to be Schnees there. Fighting Schnees was good, right?

He barked for his riders' attention. "Go," he said.

"No," snapped Corsac. "We're staying here. If Sister Sienna wants to sell out to them—"

Harbinger put his ears back and whined.

"I know you want to help Flux," Fennec said, scratching under his chin, "but we have work to do." He shot another glare at Sienna. "We can't do very much without Brand, but it's better than serving another human. Look where that got us last time."

He dug his paws into the ground. "Go."

"You stubborn—" Corsac snarled. "You're staying here, and that's final."

Harbinger hesitated. He didn't want Corsac to be angry at him... but what if he didn't go, and one of the little ones got hurt?

What if he went, and came back with Gigas, and the Albains didn't want him anymore?

"It's alright," Fennec promised. "Brand will keep them safe." His ears twitched, like they used to when Harbinger was very small and he would say the smell from the lab was only Dust. Like they did when he was lying to make him feel better.

"Nno!" Harbinger took a mouthful of his shirt and tugged.

"Brother." There was a warning in Corsac's voice.

"I'm sorry, but we need to stay."

Harbinger tried not to look at Flux. But then she made a little noise, and he did it anyway, and it felt like he'd just swallowed a lump of clay. He remembered, of all things, her. The way her pale eyes had bored into him as she hissed, "Choose."

Fennec and Corsac would be safe when he came back. Gigas and Flux might not.

He took one step towards Brand and Flux. Then another. The great fire dragon snorted and reared up onto his hind legs, his eyes very wide. Harbinger hesitated. Had he done something wrong?

"I'm sorry!" Flux cringed away from him. "I didn't mean to..."

"Com... back," Harbinger promised.

"Wha—" Corsac's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare!"

He whimpered and hid behind Brand. The older dragon shook himself out of his shock and pawed the ground. Eager to be gone. Sienna had already swung into the saddle.

"Wait!" Fennec shouted. Harbinger flattened himself onto his belly. He wasn't sure if he could still go if Fennec asked him not to... yelling was scary, but disappointment was much worse. But Fennec didn't run at him—he darted into the tent and came back with Harbinger's saddle.

His ears stood up in delight. "Ffen?"

"Brother?" Corsac made a grab for his arm. "What do you think you're doing?"

Fennec shrugged him off. His answer was too quiet to hear from where Harbinger was—but it made Corsac's fists clench.

"He isn't yours," he spat.

Fennec stumbled back. He was still clutching the saddle, but he wasn't moving at all. Harbinger crept forward and nudged him with his nose.

"Mmine," he said firmly. Then he touched Corsac's chest. "Mine."

And, while both were still standing there, gaping at him, he grabbed the saddle from Fennec and walked away. He heard muttering between them, then footsteps. Fennec caught up to him and strapped the saddle onto his back.

"It's alright," he promised. "He'll be waiting when we get back. And then... there are some things he and I—" He stopped. Coughed. "All of us... need to work out."

Harbinger bobbed his head. That was all Brand needed—he took off with a lot of heavy flapping, while Flux hesitated on the ground.

"I'm really sorry," she said again.

"It'll be okay." Harbinger touched her nose, wincing only a little at the shock. "Let's go rescue Gigas."


The cage was small.

There hadn't been a cage in the other place.

Why was it in a cage?

Why didn't matter. Why never mattered.

A door opened. A tiny skip-tap in its chest, and a twinge of love-fear-longing.

Doctor Watts entered. Its gaze stayed fixed on the bars of the cage. He made his rounds, walking slowly around the perimeter of the room. And there, the sound of his shoes on the linoleum. That little tak. The perfect sound.

The shoes came closer. Then they stopped, just a foot away. Too far. Its neck didn't extend towards him. It wasn't disappointed—it had learned by now not to expect it to.

He bent down. His eyes burned like they always did. It met them steadily, without so much as a twitch.

Watts clicked his tongue. Its wings opened, letting him examine the membrane and joints. Its forepaws stretched forward to show its claws. Its mouth opened, tongue poking out.

Another noise. A little, "Hm," in the back of his throat.

It had never heard that noise before, but it knew it was a bad one. Sick, heavy dread in its stomach. Watts pulled on a pair of gloves and reached into the cage. The bad feeling faded at the touch of latex on scales, replaced by warm contentment.

The warm feeling vanished the instant its mouth closed on his hand. There was a sharp pain at the corners of its jaws that built and built until finally they opened again. The same pain that always came when it ate. "Another defect," Doctor Watts said into his recorder. "It's only one of the Wind and Water hybrids, so I suppose it could have been worse. Still. I'll have to see about replacing it when I have the time."

He cast one last, cursory glance into the cage.

"Right now, we can't afford to be too picky."