An air horn sounds loudly as an offramp is being lowered on the ship bearing Hector, Blake and Sun to allow passengers to disembark. The town has many small buildings and homes set among dunes and palm trees. The town bell that has been ringing is shown in its belfry.
The three faunus make their way from the deck to the offramp.
Hector and Blake proceed without pause while Sun stops to look at the town "Huh".
Several Faunus in summer wear meander casually at the dock, some waiting for friends or family among the new arrivals. The dock is also a commercial area, with mobile kiosks selling food and other wares. It is a relaxed atmosphere on a sunny day.
Sun is looking around while his two companions disembark and walk through the market area together "I've never seen so many Faunus in one place!".
"This is the one place everyone can feel safe, no matter who or what they are" Blake said.
"Wow, sure is, uh, crowded, huh?" Sun asked.
Blake shakes her head "Yes. Yes, it is".
Sun dodges a Faunus carrying a box "Is it always so... cramped?".
"Well, when you try and take an entire species and put them on an island that's two-thirds desert, yeah, it tends to be cramped" Blake said.
"What! You guys have that much more space? Why waste it? A little desert never hurt anyone!" Sun pointed out, being used to desert himself.
"It's not like the desert in Vacuo, Sun. The wildlife here is more dangerous than most other regions" Blake explained.
"Pfft, oh yeah, there is" Hector agreed, "I had to fight a few of them. Fuckin land sharks out there, I tell ya."
"So, they give us a terrible island, in the corner of Remnant, to try and shut us up" Sun summed up.
"That's a pretty good summary, yeah" Blake agreed.
"Huh. Jerks" Sun said.
"You said it" Hector agreed.
"We try to make the best of things" Blake said.
"I'd say we did a pretty good job, all things considered." Hector observed.
Sun nodded: "Yeah, no kidding."
The three pause in their walk to look at the view of the town from the road. The road they are on goes downhill and to the side, bordered by palm trees and homes that have either canvas or wood roofs. The vista of palm trees spreads out to the edge of mountainous dunes in the distance. Right in the middle of all this is a large house with an open courtyard that the road appears to lead directly to. The house is at least three stories and is the only building in the whole area with a sophisticated roof.
"Whoa..." Sun said, amazed by the view.
"This, is Kuo Kuana" Blake said.
"Huh, nice name" Hector said.
"It's... beautiful. I take it all back. This place looks great! Why would anyone ever want to leave?" Sun asked loudly.
"That's not the point, Sun! We asked to be equal, to be treated just like everyone else! Instead, we were given an island and told to make do. So we did the best we could. We came together and we made a home where any Faunus could feel welcome. But this island, this town, will always be a reminder that we're still not equal" Blake said before lowering her face "That we're still second-class citizens".
Sun putts his hand on Blake's shoulder "Well, hey, this guy's feeling pretty at home".
"I haven't been here is years." Hector said, "So I'll have to start feeling at home all over again."
Blake smiles a little "Alright, time to go home".
"Oh yeah?" Sun asked moving his hand to her other shoulder and pulling her in "Which one's yours? Can you see it from here?".
As Sun uses his free hand like a visor to help him peer at the houses Blake speaks "Kind of".
"Is it that one?" Sun asked while pointing away from Blake "What about that tiny one down there?" He points across Blake "I like the paintjob".
Blake takes Sun's intruding arm by the wrist and directs it toward the large house "It's... that one".
Sun stares for a second before pointing his finger at her with a questioning expression. Blake nods. Sun looks at her for a beat before taking his arm off her and stepping back. He covers the sides of his head and crouches a bit, staring wide-eyed at the house and making a comical, amazed noise.
"Knowing your family" Hector said, "I'm not surprised."
"Well my parents are rather high ranking faunus" Blake said.
"This day just keeps getting crazier and crazier" Sun said as the three went down to the house. Once they made it, they walk up the stone steps to the front door of the house. Blake hesitates when she moves to use the knocker.
"What is it?" Sun asked.
"I um... it's just been a long time since I've seen my parents" Blake said.
"Well, you came all this way" Sun pointed out.
Blake takes a quick breath for courage and bangs the door knocker. It makes a loud, heavy, resonating sound on the large door. Sun stares up, stepping back while Blake politely backs away from the door a few paces. Hector remains where he is, not even flinching.
"Okay, if we're being honest, that's kind of intimidating" Sun said.
Hector scoffed, "I've heard worse."
Before Sun could ask what Hector meant by "worse", all three give a start at the sound of the door being opened. A short, female cat Faunus is behind it, looking around at the visitors. Her ears perk and she moves the door out of the way so she can step forward when she recognizes her daughter "Blake?"
Blake awkwardly lifts her arm in greeting "Hi, mom".
The woman steps forward and hugs her daughter "My baby girl".
Blake hesitates, uncertain for a moment, before her face gentles into a smile and she hugs her mother back.
They stand in front of open doorway. From inside the house, footsteps come closer and a shadow falls onto the carpeted entryway. The woman lets go of Blake and turns behind her at the sound of a man's voice.
"Kali? Who is it?" He asked as he appears a ways behind Kali.
The man stands with his hands on his hips, waiting to greet the visitor. His quizzical expression changes to wide-eyed surprise, before his hands, shoulders, and face all fall in a clear, emotional reaction to the sight of his daughter come home.
Sun sees this and grins, pleased at Blake's welcome as he turns to look at how she's taking it. Hector smiles as well; he always enjoyed seeing a family reunion. Blake has her hands clasped in front of her, awaiting her father's reaction. Kali has not let go, with her hands supportively on Blake's shoulder and arm.
The man says nothing, but smiles, clearly happy. Blake smiles back, relieved. She, Hector and Sun exchange sideways glances.
"Oh, these are my friends. Hector Amitola, and Sun Wukong" Blake spoke.
Ghira notices Hector and gets a puzzled look on his face, confused by the faunus's enhanced features, but quickly loses it and waves everyone in: "Come. I'm sure we have much to discuss."
Later, Kali sets down her cup down as all sit on the floor at a square table "We were horrified when we heard the news. The Kingdom of Vale isn't perfect, but it certainly didn't deserve what happened. Oh, we were both so worried".
Ghira lets out a huff "Please, I knew she'd be fine!".
Kali scoffs "That isn't the slightest bit true. You should have seen him pacing".
"You guys have nothing to worry about. I've seen your daughter in action before! And trust me, she's got some moves!" Sun said, clearly not realizing how he made it sound.
Blake, who was sipping from her cup while Sun spoke, abruptly lifts her head and swallows at his last choice of words. Ghira glares at the young man on his right "And what exactly do you mean by that, Mr. Wukong?".
Sun freezes and slowly turns toward his host "I... uh, well, you see sir, it's just that, you know, that she's such a good fighter and all, uh, and as a fellow fighter, I have a lot of respect for her..."
Kali leans in to ask quietly "Why is he here again?".
"He just kind of followed me home" Blake answered.
"I see" Kali said.
"Slightly, I mean she's definitely above average. I mean…" Sun is suddenly cut off as Hector, who had just about enough of it, wrapped his tail around Sun's mouth. All that came out was Sun's muffled yells as Hector.
"I believe what he's TRYING to say" Hector said, "is that you had no reason to worry. I fought alongside Blake temporarily at Beacon; she was one of the toughest fighters out there. You should be proud of her."
Blake warmly smiled at Hector's complement.
"Certainly an interesting comment coming from one of the White Fang's top fighters" Ghira said.
Kali was about to say something before Hector replied to Ghira.
"FORMER White Fang" Hector said, "I left some time before Blake did."
"Did you now?"
"I was going to tell you" Kali interjected, "That this was the boy who came to talk to me a few years back."
Ghira looked back at Hector: "That was you?"
Hector slightly hung his head in shame, remembering that time: "Yes. I knew you guys left the Fang, and I had no idea where to go from there after I left, so I went to see if I could talk to you guys. I think you were somewhere else, Ghira, but I was able to speak with Kali. She helped a lot."
"I'm glad I did" Kali said.
"I don't mean to be rude, Hector" Ghira said, "But what kind of faunus exactly are you?"
"Well, I WAS a chameleon faunus." Hector explained.
"Was?" Kali asked, genuinely curious.
Hector nodded before continuing: "The Fang was working on an experimental super soldier project, and I volunteered for it. As you can tell, it worked." Here, Hector, letting go of Sun here, pointed to his tail and lifted his arms, deploying the arm blades as well as showing the small spikes behind them. He also bared his teeth, showing the fangs that had replaced them
Kali and Ghira's expressions turned to horror.
"That's horrible" Kali softly said, "I thought…" suddenly, the loud sound of the front door knocker resonates, catching everyone's attention.
Ghira's expression quickly turned into frustration: "Darn it, I completely forgot about the meeting!" he said as he hits his fist onto the table and Kali quickly covers it with her hand.
"Ghira..." She spoke softly
"Give me a moment" Ghira said as he gets up and walks out.
"Is everything okay?" Blake asked.
"Yes, dear, just poor timing. He can reschedule. It's just been hard dealing with them lately" Kali said as she picks up her cup.
"Dealing with who?" Blake asked
Kali sips her tea "Hmm? The White Fang".
Hector, Sun & Blake rises to their feet in shock "WHAT?!".
The three rush to the door, where Ghira is speaking with two fox Faunus. The two visitors maintain respectful, formal postures, keeping their hands clasped before them.
"Dad!" Blake calls out.
"Blake, what's wrong?" Ghira asked.
"Miss Belladonna" One of the men said.
"We had no idea you'd returned" The other one said.
Every time either one of the two brothers speaks, they gesture with their hands and end with clasping their hands before their chests again.
"What are you doing talking to these people?" Blake demanded.
"This is Corsac and Fennec Albain. They represent the White Fang here in Menagerie now" Ghira explained.
"Those psychos are here, too?!" Sun asked in anger. Hector gave a slight, animalistic growl.
"Young man, I'm not sure what you've heard of our organization, but I can assure you, we're not nearly as ferocious as the media would have you believe" Fennec said calmly.
"Bullshit, you murderers!" Hector yelled, stepping in front of Sun.
"What we've heard? We've seen firsthand. Your fanatics slaughtered people!" Blake said in clear spite.
"What is she talking about?" Ghira demanded.
"Precisely what we came to discuss with you, Your Grace" Corsac answered.
Kali approached the group "Is everything alright?".
"Wait, you guys seriously don't know?" Sun asked in disbelief.
"Know what?" Ghira asked dangerously.
"The White Fang was at the Fall of Beacon. They attacked innocent civilians and they released Grimm and other monsters into the school" Blake explained, still glaring at the two brothers.
There is a brief silence. Fennec makes an innocent, sideways glance at his brother. Ghira slowly turns to face the two White Fang representatives "Is this true?".
Fennec looked down for a short second "Sadly, Your Grace, it is".
Blake was getting angrier "Don't act like you're s-".
"That's enough!" Ghira said sharply before looking back to the Albains "Explain yourselves".
"Though it pains us to admit, it has become apparent that the Vale branch of the White Fang is no longer operating under orders of High Leader Khan. Rather, they've elected to follow the rule of one Adam Taurus. I believe you're all familiar with the young adept and his... extreme philosophies" Corsac explained.
"You know, Beacon wasn't the first time the Fang started shooting up Vale!" Sun pointed out, not believing they were so innocent as they tried to sound.
"The High Council had their suspicions of a splinter group, but they could prove nothing until this latest incident" Fennec said.
"Incident? People are dead!" Blake said with pain in her voice.
"And it is a tragedy" Corsac said calmly.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure you guys are used to making those" Hector snapped, his arm blades shooting out to full length, "And I'm sure you still have to explain the experiment that created me as well!"
"That will be for another time, I assure you" Corsac said calmly, though he slightly leaded away from the super faunus.
"Your Grace, we came to assure you that Brother Taurus and his followers do not represent the will of the White Fang" Fennec said.
"And how can I be sure of that?" Ghira asked
"We understand if you bear any skepticism towards these claims. The White Fang's tactics are admittedly, more aggressive since you stepped down as High Leader and became Chieftain of Menagerie. But this, this is no way to make our message heard" Corsac said.
"We have ample documentation from the council meeting, as well as several strategies to apprehend and punish these strays if you care to review them" Fennec said.
"I will, but another day. I'd like some time to reconnect with my daughter" Ghira said.
Corsac bows "But of course, Your Grace".
Fennec bows too "We completely understand. It was a pleasure to see you again, young Blake".
"So... those guys were creepy" Sun said.
Hector retracts his blades: "No kidding"
Ghira glares at Sun "I really don't like you".
Hector pats Ghira's shoulder as he walks by: "You'll get used to it."
"Wait, Hector" Ghira said, stopping him, "Tell me more about this…experiment."
Outside, the two brothers descend the steps, perfectly in sync and their formally clasped hands. Corsac, however, is now using the prayer posture that Fennec had been using all along.
"An interesting development, wouldn't you say?" Fennec asked.
Corsac nods "Interesting indeed".
"So, shall we inform Brother Adam?" Fennec asked his brother.
"Oh, we shall... but I think things would be much easier if young Hector wasn't around to get in the way."
"Agreed. I say we send in our other operative. If I remember correctly, she still has a score to settle with him."
"Oh, indeed she does. Yes, let us send her in; that should keep him occupied long enough."
They exchange unsettling grins.
Let me know what you guys think so far.