F3: Hello everyone and welcome back to chapter 6. We left off where Star and company had arrived at Shade Academy and met a few familiar faces and now they have another task to complete by finding the cause of the water drought. RWBY is property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. OC characters that are in this story are property of yours truly. With that said Let's Roll Out!
Volume 4-6 Blue: Familiar Faces
Star and the others were leaving the office of the academy now with a mission in mind but after a long ride from the camp to the city plus with the mission it was obvious that they might need some help with this one but with only just the three of them it was going to be rather difficult which is why Star decided to train herself for this and there was not better place than the dojo that she noticed coming into town.
"You sure it's best to train at a time like this. We've got a mission tomorrow so we need to get ourselves ready." May said.
"I know that but it doesn't hurt to at least check this place out. Plus I need to build myself up if I'm going to unlock more of my aura. And... maybe even get my semblance under control." Star said.
"And you think this dojo will help?" Mars asked.
Star shook her head "I'm not sure but it's worth a try right." She said confidently as they approached the dojo. Star placed a hand on the rather large door before giving it a hard shove as to push it open hearing the large door creak as it opened.
The inside of the dojo seemed quite simple yet refined with several excerise stations that had their fair share of usage along with a sandbags hanging at the corner of the dojo.
"Doesn't look like anyone's here." May said a little surprised as she looked for anyone that was around.
"Hello! Anyone here!" Mars called out to see if anyone responds.
To her surprise someone did respond to her call.
"Be right their!" A tiny voice called out as Star could hear small pitter patter of feet.
The person came out and appeared to be a little girl around six to seven years old with short black hair and emerald colored eyes. She wears a white jacket along with a pair of black shorts and sneakers. Though around her eyes are like eye shadow but it was actually apart of her body. Also behind her back is long and fluffy black and white lemur tail that was gently swaying back and forth cutely.
"How can I help?" The little girl asked sweetly.
This was completely unexpected for they thought to see but Star decided to try and ask.
"Um... do you work here?" Star asked cautiously.
The little girl tilted her head as if confused at the question "Why would I work at my home?" She said simply.
"Wait. You actually live here?" Mars asked as the little girl nodded.
"From the looks of it you want to do some training yes." The little girl said smartly.
"How'd you know we want to train?" Star questioned.
"Well aside from that school we're the only dojo in the capital. Almost everyone comes here to train." The little girl said.
"Hold on I'll get my brother. I'm sure he can help." The little girl said before running off toward the side of the dojo that seemed to connect to another part of the place.
Before long they heard what sounds like another person that the little girl was bringing toward them.
"Okay okay. Easy little sis you're going to make me fall." A males voice called out but it sounded very familiar to Star the moment she heard.
"No way... don't tell me." Star thought as her thoughts were answered as the little girl brought in a certain monkey faunus that she knew from the visits of the academy.
As the two came into view Star was right about who the person was.
It was Sun Wu Kong. Still decked out in his signature white shirt that is left opened showing off his muscluar chest along with simply blue jeans and sneakers with his yellow tail for everyone to see.
"Sis easy with the pulling. What's so... im...por...tant..." Sun said before noticing the three girls in front of them more importantly Star who was staring right at him.
"Sun. Well this is a-" Star didn't get to say another word before she was quickly engulfed in a hug by the monkey faunus which surprised her.
"Sun!? What are you-" She started but Sun stopped her.
"Your alive... your actually alive." He muttered. This took her by surprise as Star carefully wrapped her arms around him.
"Yeah... I'm here." She said soothingly trying to calm the monkey faunus as she held him for what seemed like forever.
After about ten minutes Sun finally let go of her as he wiped tears from his eyes as he simply composed him.
"S-Sorry about that i-it was just... I was worried that something happened to you after what happened." Sun said as Star nodded well knowing what he meant.
"Yeah. Though its a long story." Star said.
"Uh huh I bet it is." He added as he turned to the little girl.
"I've see you all met my little sister here. This is Lexi Wu Kong." He introduced as he ruffled his little sisters hair.
"Hey! I just brushed this!" Lexi whined pushing his hands away from her hair.
He chuckled at his sisters actions as she was trying to straighten her hair out.
"So this is where you live huh? Nice place." Star said commenting on the dojo.
Sun placed his hands behind his head and gave a confident grin "Yep. A lot of people come by here to get some training done so that way they're physically prepared for whatever they're mission is. But this half of the dojo is the work place while the other half is more of a homey feel to it." He added.
"I can see why. Having a home that is also part of your work. Not bad of an idea to say the least." May commented.
"Though from the sounds of it you all didn't come here for just a friendly visit right." Sun replied.
Star nodded "Yeah. Their is something that I need your help with Sun." Star began before took in a breath as she continued.
"I need you to train me." She said firmly which made Sun blink his eyes at her.
"Either my ears are decieving me or you just said that you want me to train you right." Sun replied.
"Yes I said that. It's rather complicated right now and my aura isn't what it used to be." Star said.
"What do you mean 'isn't what it used to be'?" He questioned. Star wanted to talk about it but was worried about the current sensitive ears that is in the area in which Sun picked up on as he turned to his sister.
"Hey Lexi could you give us a moment please?" He kindly questioned.
Lexi simply sighed at this "Alright I get the picture. I'll leave you be." She said as she walked away from the group.
Making sure that Lexi was far enough away Sun gestured her to continue what she was going to say.
"It was when I was fighting Tyrian, a scorpion faunus, back at Vale and during the fight my aura broke and I think I nearly blacked out then I started seeing red. I'm sure but I think I might have hurt him. Four days later I'm back in Corquina and found out that my aura going through an Aura Exhaustion." Star explained.
"Yeah that isn't good. It's takes some time for someone's aura to return after that. How much aura has come back?" He asked.
"I think around twenty percent but it's better than nothing." She said unsure for herself just how much was back exactly.
Sun thought a moment cupping his chin before coming up with an idea "Well... I suppose I could but with how low your aura currently is I don't think it's a good idea to train with only that much aura. The training that you'd be doing is way harsher than you may think. Plus it'll drain your aura too quickly if you do this. Just don't want you to get hurt." Sun said.
It did disappoint the fox faunus that Sun wouldn't train her but then again she couldn't go against the logic he was thinking. If her aura went down too quickly and gets hurt during the training which wouldn't be good for her.
"I understand." Star said.
"Yeah wouldn't need you getting hurt again. Not until your aura fully recovers." Mars stated.
"So where are you girls next?" He asked.
"We're heading to one of the hotels here to get some rest for tomorrow." May replied.
However Sun had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case as he crossed his arms.
"It's about the water wells. From what I can tell you girls visited the academy and talked with the headmistress their right. You're going to the shore line aren't you?" He said.
"Shore line? What's their?" Mars questioned.
Sun sighed at this "The source of the problem with the water. I've been their. It's well guarded by Carmine's men I don't think even you girls could get to it." Sun added.
"Is it that guarded?" May questioned.
"Yeah. It's guarded so well that nobody has been able to get into it. Good luck with that." Sun answered.
That came to a realization to Star "And you know how to get in? Don't you." Star said knowing.
"Well yeah I've scouted out the-" Sun began before stopping himself almost knowing what Star was going to suggest.
"Oh no. No no. I'm not going with you on this little adventure." Sun said defiantly.
"Sun you're probably the only other guy that knows the mountain range better than any of us here. If we can get up their and get rid of the source of the blockage then the capital will have their water again and not only that we'll find some of the people that might have been captured by her men." Star said.
"We could really use your help with this Sun." Star added.
Sun wanted to fuss about this and he knows that Star current aura levels weren't great so she wouldn't even last long in a fight going head to head so adding that to his consideration and the fact that there might be hostages their as well. So with a disgruntled sigh as he gave in.
"Alright... I'll help." He finally said.
"Thanks for this Sun. Meet us in front of the hotel tomorrow then we'll get going." Star said as they decide to leave the dojo and head toward the hotel that May wanted them to stay at.
=RWBY=
After leaving the dojo Mars and Star followed May to the hotel that they'll be staying at as they also looked at the sites that were around them. However it wasn't long till they were finally in front of the hotel. It was a large three story building that had several windows on it which indicated a room on each of the floors.
"Wow. Nice place you found May." Mars commented.
"Piece of cake." May added feeling happy for herself about finding the hotel.
Star was impressed with the size of the hotel as she was looking at it but that is she felt something very light touch her ankle softly. She looked to her lower right and noticed a small bouncy ball had stopped in front of her. She heard little feet coming right at her as she saw two little boys and a little girl.
The boys were one of them was a human while one was a faunus as he had patches of scales on him that looked like a crocodile. The little girl was a faunus as well like the other boy but she had a cats tail and even a pair of ears to match as well.
"Um... excuse me but... can we have our ball?" The little girl said sweetly.
Star knelt down to grab the little ball before handing it to the girl.
"Their we go. Try to hang on to it a little better okay." Star said sweetly to the girl.
Though that was when Star noticed something was missing or more like someone missing.
"Aren't your parents around? Where are they at?" Star questioned them kindly.
That was when the little girl became quiet with a somber look on their faces.
"We... don't have parents." The little boy said.
That's when Star put things together about the three children in front of her as she got a good look at the three.
The two boys clothing had small rips and tears on them along with some dirt in their hair and on their skin. The girl also had rips in her clothing but also her left cat ear had a rip in it that looked liked someone had pulled at it too hard.
"Their... orphans." Star thought as she was thinking about her time back at the orphanage.
"Well... where are you staying at?" She asked them.
"It's a big building but we need to get back to it otherwise he's going to get worried." The boy said getting the other twos attention.
"Yeah we should. He'll be worried if we're out so late." The girl said.
However that gave Star a little idea to try and help them "Well... how about an escort? Don't want you three getting capture by someone bad now would we." Star suggested.
"Um... I guess that will be okay. Just follow us." The little girl said.
Star then turned to the others "You girls go on ahead. I'll catch up." Star said to the others as Mars and May headed inside while Star followed the three children as she escorted back to where they came.
After following them for about a good ten minutes the path started to become familiar to Star almost as if she knew it before. She continued to follow the children as the three kids took a left turn down an alley way with Star quickly on their heels. Coming out of the alley way Star looked up and immediately noticed where they have lead her a place that was all too familiar to her.
It was a two story building with a simple roof and the building itself was made out of wood with brick reinforcement. Their was an archway that led to the front of the building along with a big enough yard for children to play and run around with a fence going around the entire property. Star looked up at the sign and she immediately noticed what it read.
It read 'Lost Ways Orphanage' which rang in Star's mind that this was the same orphanage that she grew up in before it was burned down when she was only seven years old.
"It looks... just like I remembered it." Star thought feeling a bit of nostalgia coming to her as the children headed up to the door.
"Ah their you three are. I thought I told you not to wonder too far from the orphanage." An older man said firmly.
"We're sorry." The three children said.
Star looked up at the older man. He was about in his late forties but he was certainly fit for his age. He has dark skin with dark brown hair but with a few strands of gray starting to show that looks well kept as well as have deep purple eyes that look like they could tell a tale all their own. He wears a plain white shirt that seems to be fading in color and long jeans that have some oil stains on them along with some brown boots that reach up to above his ankles.
He also has a brown beard that is well trimmed while also showing a few gray strands in them. On his left hand on his index finger is a gold ring with a small diamond in it.
"Ah and who is this that followed you?" He asked kindly.
"She's one of those cool people. What are they called again?" The cat faunus asked confusingly.
The older man slightly chuckled "You mean a huntress." He answered.
The cat faunus nodded quickly "Yeah one of them. A huntwess." She said childishly that even got Star chuckling a bit.
"Now you three go on inside. I would like to talk with the huntress right here." The older man said as the three children ran inside the orphanage.
Now it was just the older gentleman and Star as he looked at her oddly.
"You look rather young to be a huntress. Are you actually one?" He asked.
"I wish I was but I'm actually still in training. At least when Beacon was still around." Star replied.
"Ah yes. I've heard about that incident. Tragic indeed." He said before remembering something before chuckling.
"Oh where are my manners? I haven't introduced myself. I am Finn Asturias. I'm the keeper of this orphanage." Finn introduced himself.
"Star Azure. It's a pleasure to meet you." Star introduced herself before she got a good look around the place almost remembering what it felt like to be here again even if it was rebuilt.
"Something that matter young one?" He questioned.
"Actually... I have a rather weird question to ask." Star began as he gestured to her to ask it.
"Um... would it be alright if I came inside? I want to see the inside of the orphanage." Star questioned.
He looked at her for a moment before giving her a gentle smile "I don't see any harm in that. Just watch out for the little ones. They can be quite a handfull." He said as he headed inside in which Star followed him inside.
Immediately a wave of memories started flowing back to her as she saw the lobby of the orphanage. While it was update and rebuilt she looked toward the fireplace that seemed to be untouched but it showed that it was used during cold nights and Star remembered that she, Mercury, Emerald and... Cinder used to sit around the fireplace to get warm and sometimes see other kids getting adopted at the lobby.
"This is the lobby. Nothing special but we handle affairs here based on adoption. Though not many people have come to consider adoption." Finn stated as he then headed toward another part of the orphanage.
Star carefully looked at everything and every look brought back a memory of the past which brought a small smile to her face.
Then they entered the large kitchen area. It was bigger than she remembered as it has a large table that could easily fit around ten to fifteen people at a time without wasting a single space. It also had a large kitchen sink and a dish washer on the side for large loads to handle. Plenty of cabinet space for bowls and plates and for utensils that's enough for the kids currently their.
"This is the kitchen area. Quite large considering the amount of kids that are here right now." Finn added almost tiredly.
"Probably got a lot of mouths to feed huh." Star said as he nodded in agreement.
"Yes to the point that I needed to hire extra help to help me out watching the orphanage. Though they're currently attending Shade Academy. They should be getting out later this afternoon around three." Finn said though he noticed that one of the kids was try to get some water from the sink.
"Now what are you doing?" He asked gently as he picked up the boy and placed him down on the ground.
"Just trying to get some water but nothing is coming out." The boy said pointing to the sink as Finn sighed.
"I'll see what I can do about that. Now you just run along." Finn said as the boy ran toward another part of the orphanage.
"Though there are still a lot of things to fix. Its starting to take its toll on me as well. Not as young as I used to be." He added but went over and checked out the sink for a minute.
"Mind if I take a look at it?" She asked.
"Be my guest." He said as Star opened the cabinet as she found the pipes that lead straight from the sink to under the orphanage. She also noticed a set of tools nearby that could be useful to her.
"From the looks of it... it's probably an internal component that failed. It's not getting any water through the lines. Now if I can fix that it'll get the water through the lines." Star thought as took out a wrench from the tool box and started working out the problem in front of her.
After about five minutes she was able to remove the line connecting to the faucet as she looked under it and immediately found the problem. The cartridge valve that controls the flow of the water has broken off which was why the boy wasn't getting any water.
"Here's the problem. The lever on the cartridge valve broke which is why the water isn't getting through the lines. It should be an easy fix if having the right component." Star replied.
"I think I have an extra one just for cases like this." Finn replied as he went to one of the drawers nearby. A few minutes of later he found the component needed and handed it to Star.
She would then place the component back in its regular position before securing it making sure that it doesn't move. She would then test to make sure that water was now getting to through the lines seeing the water flow from the faucet but it wasn't running as strong.
"Hm... that's odd. I've connected it but the water flow isn't as strong like it should be." Star stated.
"Probably because of what little water their is now." Finn replied knowingly.
"Now a days everyone has been getting their water through the Weeping Wall but our town relies on the water lines from the ocean." He added.
"But... isn't most of the water from the ocean salt water. That wouldn't be very good for the kids." Star said.
"Actually we already have a solution to that problem. There's a filter that drains it into a large container and then that container removes the salt from the ocean water it gathered and that water is then moved to another container before traveling through the pipes underground that connects to the wells here in capital. A little complicated but it works." Finn replied.
Star only blinked at him for a moment before answering "That's... a rather unique system. Must've taken a lot just to build it." Star said.
"Yeah but it works. Though we don't know why the water has stopped coming through the wells." Finn added wanting some answers of his own.
"I bet Carmine has something to do with it." Star thought.
"Say is their anything else that you'll need help with? I mean until your actually help arrives." Star says to him.
"I won't want to impose." He said kindly.
"Nonsense. This place... even though it was rebuilt was kinda my home for a long time." Star added almost willing to help.
He looked at the fox faunus for a moment before sighing softly "Okay then just follow me." He said gesturing her to follow him.
=RWBY=
What turned into a small visit turned into more of Star helping around the orphanage. After handling the water issue she was then tasked by help putting new shingles on the roof since a few of them were missing from the top a job that took her a little over fifteen minutes to complete. She then helped with getting a few plants watered with the water from the Weeping Wall.
She didn't know it but about three hours have past as it was starting to get into the afternoon as she had just finished fixing up the fence that goes around the orphanage. She swept the sweat from her brow as she let out a relieved sigh looking over the fence giving a solid nod feeling happy about her accomplishment.
She worked up quite a sweat that she had to remove her jacket which only left her in her crop top that showed off her arms which are starting to get some tone to them after the amount of work she was doing.
She went up to the entrance of the orphanage where her jacket laid as she slung it on her shoulder along with the scarf as she entered back inside the orphanage. She was greeted with a bottle of water as Finn handed it to her.
"Thanks." She said taking the water before taking a swig of it feeling rather satisfied of her work.
"Got the fence fixed. Those bars should stay straight for the time being." Star said before taking another swig of the water but she also noticed the time on the clock which made her go wide eye.
"Whoa have I really been going at it for almost four hours?" Star said rather surprised about it.
"Yep. You were really going at it. It was rather hard to stop you when you have something on your mind." Finn said.
Star rubbed her head sheepishly almost embarrassed about it. However around that time her ears flicked hearing footsteps coming up to the door as it opened.
"Hey Finn. You home." Cardin called out.
"We're here to work." A females voice called out but it sounded rather familiar to her.
Star turned around and noticed that it was Cardin and Velvet but Velvet had on a rather different outfit than her normal one. She now wears a light brown jacket that has multiple pockets that is left opened to reveal a white tube top to show off her stomach and compliment her chest along with form fitting jeans. She also wears a belt that has a container that most likely has her camera in it.
Though Star noticed that her left eye had swelled and turning purple almost as if someone punched her or something but all and all Velvet was alive and well.
Velvet looked at the fox faunus with a surprise look on her face "Star... that you?" Velvet said.
"Yeah it's me. What you thought I was dead or something?" Star questioned.
"Well... nobody knew where'd you were thought you completely vanished." Velvet said her ears sagged a little.
Star wanted to reply but noticed Velvet's bruised eye "Hey what happened there? Get into a fight with someone?" Star questioned.
Velvet flinched a bit from her question almost as if trying to not say something. Though her bruised eye went unnoticed by Finn who went over to look at her eye.
"Yep... someone at the academy must've slugged yah good. I should have something for that." He said as he went to another part of the orphanage with Velvet right behind him.
Though it didn't take long for Star to put things together about what happened considering how Cardin acted toward that one student.
"I'm guessing that was the reason why you about to tear that guy apart." Star said knowingly with a smirk on her face.
He slightly chuckled "Yeah. To think months ago I was messing with her because of who she is and now we've surprisingly became good friends. Even if she's a year ahead of me." Cardin said as he was about to head out to start his shift.
Though Star had a different idea on that "Hey Cardin can we talk a moment?" She asked stopping him in his tracks looking over his shoulder.
"About what?" He asked back.
That was when she crossed her arms and looked at him with a subtle glare her tail twitched slightly.
"I think you know what." She said sternly. Cardin look at her a moment almost trying to understand what she meant but then it hit him as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh right... that." Cardin said before turning to the door.
"Let's talk outside. It'll be a little more private since the walls have ears." He added before heading back outside. Star wanting to get answers from him decided to follow after him.
=RWBY=
Following him to a secluded part of the yard where the two could talk without anyone ease dropping on them.
"This place is quiet enough. So nobody should hear us. Now what kind of questions you want to ask me." He said crossing his arms.
Star wracked her brain at what question to ask before coming up with something that was simple.
"How long did you know that Rina was a faunus?" She asked.
He cupped his chin a moment before thinking back before he gave her an answer.
"It was around the time Yang's mothers came by Beacon. About four months ago. I noticed a small web strand hanging from the tree. When I climbed it I noticed that it was Rina crying her eyes out. After I calmed her down I sort of put things together that she was a faunus in the first place. She pretty much begged me not to tell you girls that she was a faunus and I think I now know why." Cardin replied.
"Oh and why is that?" Star questioned raising an eyebrow.
"She was wanting to protect you girls from getting in trouble." Cardin said simply.
"Protecting us? Why would we need to be protecting?" She asked confused about what he meant.
"Well let's put it like this. If she told you that she was faunus and by the way a criminal no doubt your team would pretty much be sheltering a criminal which wouldn't be good for any of you and would most likely be arrested. She decided to tell me and only me so that way you and the rest of the team would be safe." Cardin said.
This hit her hard at what Cardin said which really made her think about her teammate now but it still didn't sit well with her that Rina lied to her and the team but then again now hearing it from Cardin she guessed it was okay for the moment.
"I guess I see your point. I'm still angry with her though." Star replied sternly.
"I know." He said with a little smile.
Though Star thought it was time to change the subject a little bit "So... how's Velvet? Is she doing okay? Aside from the bruised eye." She asked.
Cardin sighed at this before he answered "She's... coping honestly. I think she put it together that it was her team that caused the attack on the school and the city. I know she's trying to put on a brave face but I can tell that she's hurting inside." Cardin started looking down.
"Knowing that your team caused something like this must be hitting her hard. That's kinda why we took up a part time job here. She's great with the kids and keeping them occupied and I well I'm not too bad at cooking and making sure things are fixed." Cardin began as he looked toward the window more likely where Velvet is getting her eye patched up.
"Some of us have a different way of coping that's all." He finished.
"Speaking of which I'm sure those kids are probably going to be hungry so I've got some cooking to do. Care to help out." Cardin said as he headed to the side door.
"Sure... though I'm not that great of a cook." She said sheepishly.
"Don't worry. I'll help you out. Maybe even teach you a few tricks." Cardin said as the two headed inside to feed the kids their at the orphanage and maybe get a chance to clear her head as well.
F3: And that ends chapter 6. Cardin and Velvet make an appearance and who know what else could happen in the long run. With all that make sure to leave behind a comment and follow me for any future updates. With that said this is Fireuser3 and I'm out.