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"You're the Human that wants the Fang to come back to Menagerie?" Blake snapped, her eyes narrow and face warped in a deep frown. Rion only nodded, caught off guard by a woman who seemed to have been waiting for her father to open the door, and Blake practically hissed, "Are you insane or just an idiot?"
"Blake Belladonna, I did not raise you to be rude to guests!" For a supposed terrorist, Blake balked pretty quickly in the face of Kali's maternal ire, shrinking back and stalking to the couch with a frown. Sighing, the older Faunus explained, "And Rion only suggested it, because of what's been happening."
"We agreed with her reasoning, Blake." Ghira added, laying a hand on her shoulder and nudging her away gently. "We told you what was going on, so what do you suggest we do instead?"
Blake didn't have anything to say to that and turned away, stalking to Ghira's couch and falling onto one side of.
"So much for being a hardened ex-terrorist…" Rion murmured as she rounded the couch and took a seat on one of the Chieftain's chairs, Spark standing behind her and playing his part as dutifully as always.
"Eh, should've seen her back at Beacon." Her blonde friend, a man with seemingly as little body fat as humility or clothes, laughed. "She was real quiet and down back then. Opened up a bit since, though, thanks to me and her-"
"Sun." Blake sighed quietly, eyes pinching shut while she fought a very obvious wave of aggravation, "Can we please not talk about Beacon right now? Or at all, maybe?"
"Uh, yeah." The blonde Faunus nodded, obviously worried but not sure what to do about it. Stretching an arm along the back of the couch he sighed and smiled warmly. "You're the boss, Blake. So what do we talk about? Your mom's awesome fashion sense?"
"Oh, stop it now, you rascal." The woman laughed, sitting on the other end of the couch beside her daughter and laughing while Ghira rumbled and mumbled angrily, stalking his way to the empty chair on Sun's end of the couch so he could glower at him. "And aside from Sun being a dear and picking a fight with Ghira, we could… Talk about our dinner plans for the night, I suppose?"
"Or about the pirates." Blake suggested dryly, staring a hole into the ceiling "There has got to be a better plan than bringing the Fang here to deal with them."
"Like?" Rion asked icily, watching the young Faunus closely while she tried to feel her out. If she was an ex-terrorist, then how had she left the Fang? It didn't sound like a very civil parting, from how Blake was reacting. "What's the alternative? Because we don't see anything."
"I don't know, just… Something that doesn't involve them." Blake answered hotly, rounding on Rion with a confused look, "You're a Human! Why would you even consider them in the first place?"
"By looking at the facts." Rion shrugged, "Unless you can look at them and come up with something different, then we're stuck."
"No, we," Blake snapped, waving a hand at her parents and her blonde friend, "are stuck. Us. the Faunus. You can leave if you want to. Head to Mistral and grab a ship from there back to Atlas, if you have the Lien. And you should have more than enough after the haul you brought in."
"You know about that?"
"Mother told me." She shrugged and crossed her arms, adding quietly, "And thank you, for stopping those pirates, by the way."
"You're welcome." And what was that whiplash worthy turn-around? Blake had gone from getting on her case to thanking her like a car from zero to sixty and then back down all in the same moment. Shrugging, Rion added, "And I want to stay and help. Your parents helped me when I needed it, so I owe it to them."
"Oh dear, please, you don't owe us a single thing." Kali assured her, smiling when Rion gave her a look. "You sunk two ships and brought in plenty of weapons and supplies, too. I'd say you've more than paid us back for helping you out, if you wanted to leave."
"I agree." Ghira added with a smile, "You've rearmed a portion of our Guard corps as well. And all for a pittance, probably. If you're only here because you think you owe it to us, then rest assured, that debt is repaid. The ship is yours, use it to head home, if you wish to. You don't have to stay and fight for us."
...Huh.
"I'll… Think about it, I guess." She promised unsurely, filing away that bit of information for later, when she could talk to Spark a bit more freely. "But for now, uh, you wanted to introduce us, right?"
"Ah, yes, of course." Ghira smiled widely and warmly, in the way that fathers so often did, turning and gesturing with a broad hand to Blake, "Well, to do this more properly then, this is Blake. Kali and I's only child and currently the heir to Menagerie's chieftainship."
"Oh Dust me, you're actually a princess…"
"Damn it, Sun!"
"And that is Sun Wukong." Ghira sighed, all of his joy and warmth rushing out of him faster than a bullet from a barrel. "An aggravating little creature that stalked my daughter from one continent to another."
"Hey!" The blonde grunted, "I followed out of worry! I'm not a stalker!"
"Mhm." Blake nodded, "Sure you aren't."
"Disagree with that…"
"Dear, just don't fight it."
"Oh, I'm tired, I give up." Sun sighed, flailing and flopping over the couch very much like a dead fish. Waving for them to go on, he sighed, "Just ignore the stalker, I guess. Sure you guys have something important to get on to."
"More important than heckling you?" Ghira rumbled quietly, chuckling under his breath. "Not likely."
"Gee, thanks…"
Still, the Chieftain sighed and stood, heading over to his desk to grab a large yellow folder and a furled map. He brought both over and offered them to her, explaining when she took them and cracked the files open to read, "The files are introductory, give them to Sienna when you meet her ship. The map will show you the rendezvous point, a couple days out from harbor."
"Got it." She nodded, folding it all together and offering it to Spark. It might have been pretend, but if she didn't actually have to carry everything… He took it and she smirked, asking, "What are we expecting out there? I'm guessing you aren't sending us out there for no reason."
"No, we wouldn't waste your time." Kali explained while Ghira returned to his seat. "Mistrali domestic security has long been looking for Sienna Khan-"
"For good reason." Blake cut in, crossing her legs and arms both and grumbling. "She's a murdering terrorist after all. Why wouldn't they be?"
"I bet your name is on their Wanted list, too, Miss Belladonna." Rion pointed out, holding her hands in surrender when the young Faunus turned to her, eyes narrow and angry. "Just making the point. Besides, we need her-"
"Again, we need her." Blake pointed out, "You can leave."
"Actually, they'd probably be as big a threat to her as to us." Sun, of all people, pointed out quietly. When the room turned to him in the obvious question, he explained, "Well… You'd be leaving from Menagerie. If they knew that, or maybe even if they didn't, then you might have pirates-"
"Privateers." Kali pointed out automatically, adding, "Pirates are, um, independent and- Sorry."
"Anyway, you said they were hitting everyone, for the most part." Sun went on, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Human crews or not, Menagerie flags or not, it doesn't matter. Right?"
"Right." Blake nodded, chewing the inside of a cheek and pinching the bridge of her nose. Sucking in a breath, she said, "Sorry, I just… Tides, the last couple of weeks have been hell for me. I don't mean to take it out on you, I just… I don't know."
"Blake…" And good god did it look like Kali just wanted to rush over and bundle Blake up in a hug. Instead, she turned to Rion, mouth working confusedly while she tried to find something to say.
Rion cut in before she could, though, smiling and saying, "I've been having a hell of a couple months, too, Blake. Don't worry about it, just… Trying to get by can be hard, but if you're anything like what I've seen so far from your parents, you can do it. I've seen people come through worse."
"You don't even know what I've been through…"
"Nope." But Rion knew for a fact that people had come through worse. One of them was literally standing behind her right now, after all. Not that she could say that. Instead she said, "But I've seen plenty, and been through plenty, too. People are tough. As long as you can still look yourself in the eye in the mirror, you're on the right track."
"Yeah." Blake frowned and stood, sighing a long, deep sigh and heading for the door, "I'm going to catch a shower and head to bed. Mom, is my room…?"
"Just how you left it, more or less." Kali smiled knowingly and added, coyly, "Complete with all the band posters and those magazines under your bed under that floorboard."
Blake stiffened and hissed and then bolted out of the room like someone had touched a branding iron to her rear end. In her wake, the room exploded into a warm laughter that broke the ice that had built up before it. It was nice to just be able to relax in that moment, even if Rion already knew that they'd have to drag it all back down in just a few minutes.
As they calmed down, Sun stood too, rubbing the back of his neck and asking, "I, uh, hate to be a dick. But…"
"There's a hotel down a few blocks." Ghira grunted, smiling thinly and folding his arms over his massive chest. "Should have a few rooms spare. If not, I know another one over near the docks. Owner owes me a-"
"Oh, Ghira, stop it." Kali laughed, standing and laying a hand on the man's shoulder and guiding him towards the door, "Come on, I'll show you to a guest room. It isn't much, I'm afraid, but it's a warm bed."
"Thanks." The Faunus smiled and chuckled, letting her lead him along by the arm with a sad kind of smile. "Ad don't worry, Misses B, I'm from Vacuo. A real bed's already a bit more than I'm used to needing."
The door shut behind them before Rion could hear Kali's response, leaving her and Ghira alone. After a quiet moment, Rion stood to leave, too.
"Rion." Ghira said as she reached for the door handle. She turned, raising a brow at the man, and he said, "Be careful out there. Your droid is damn good, I've seen the damage it can do. But you never know what you'll run into out there."
"I know." More than he did, probably, not to speak ill of him. "Don't worry, I'll be alright."
"I know." He sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing in his chair. "Just an old man worrying, I suppose. If you mind letting Kali know, I… I think I'll take a nap. Today's been a stressful one, and I think it'll do me some good."
"I'll let her know if I see her." She promised, "Get some rest, Chieftain. I have a feeling you'll need it."
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"How are our supplies?" Spark asked the next day as she came into the bridge of the Spirit. Smirking and shifting to a mocking pink hue, he added, "I know you're just a squishy little meat bag, but I'm assuming counting isn't beyond you. It's not, is it?"
"Why do I keep you around again?"
"My winning personality?"
"No, we both know your personality is garbage." She sighed, taking a seat at the navigation desk and unfurling the map Ghira had given them. While she marked out where they were going on the ship's larger map, tacked to the wall over the navigator's desk at the back of the bridge cabin. "Try again, Spark."
"...My precision heavy weapons?"
"There it is!" She smiled, pushing a tack in at their destination and rolling the map back up so she could fit it in one of the desk's drawers. Dropping into the rolling chair and kicking it back, she looked up at the map and smiled, "Knew there was some reason I kept you around, just couldn't remember what it was."
"Well, at least my value as a weapons platform isn't lost." He chuckled, asking, "You like the new map?"
"I do, yeah."
It might have been marked up, but it was still a good spare map. And much smaller than the nearly wall sized one they'd had pinned up against the back wall of the bridge. It was more detailed than the one Ghira had given her, marking out elevation and terrain features on the minor continent itself as well as oceanic hazards all around the landmass. Colored lines marked out popular trade lanes, and a book that had come with the map named them and explained the directions they were meant to go on them, running with the sea and wind currents. And places well known to be trafficked by Grimm, too.
Part of her wanted to visit a few, and see how Spark fared against them.
But part of her also knew that playing that game was dangerous, and didn't offer nearly enough gain to play. Even if the bounties on the Grimm might be lucrative, there was no telling what a fight would do to their ship. And a win might very well be as fatal as a failure, if the monsters damaged their ship enough. So she didn't suggest the idea.
Instead, she asked, "How are things on your end?"
"Fine." He answered, "We have plenty of fuel, and the engines are in good condition. We're ready to head out whenever you give the word, captain."
"You're still sore about that." She snorted, "Aren't you?"
"No."
"Spark…"
"Okay, maybe a little." He waved her off, shaking his mechanized head and asking. "Can we go now? I'd enjoy being out on the water, and we do have a meeting to get to."
"Anxious?"
"A bit." He nodded, tapping a mechanical finger on the captain's wheel. "I have a bad feeling about it, and I don't know why."
"You and Ghira both…" She murmured, shrugging after a few moments and rolling her chair over to her friend. Rapping a knuckle against his armored skin, she ordered, "Let's get going, then, captain Spark. Whatever's going to happen, it won't happen if we laze about here."
"Aye, captain." He sighed sarcastically, even tossing in a lazy, sloppy salute as he pulled away from the dock and asked, "Can you go and watch the fore?"
With a nod, she stood and left, headed to a window she could use to watch the ship's front end without anyone realizing she wasn't sailing the ship. Soon, his Watchers would replace her, but for now they needed the subtler option.
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KPMH 2001 :
Yeah, I tried to convey that specific mania a bit. Hopefully I did well. Glad you enjoyed the story!