Chapter 6

Menagerie

9 months after the attack on Beacon, Sun and Blake made their way from the deck of a ferry to the offramp. The cat Faunus proceeded without pause while Sun stopped to look at the town around them.

"Huh, this is...cozy," the monkey Faunus observed.

Several Faunus in summer wear meandered casually at the dock, some waiting for friends or family among the new arrivals. The dock was also a commercial area, with mobile kiosks selling food and other wares. It was a relaxed atmosphere on a sunny day, but that was the usual tropical atmosphere.

Sun was still looking around while he and Blake disembarked and walked through the market area together.

"I've never seen so many Faunus in one place!" Sun admitted

Blake nodded and said, "This is the one place everyone can feel safe, no matter who or what they are"

Sun's eyes squinted as he mentioned, "Wow, sure is, uh, crowded, huh?"

"Yes. Yes, it is," Blake confirmed in a somber voice.

Sun dodged a Faunus carrying a box and asked, "Is it always so... cramped?"

Blake sighed and explained, "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."

Sun gave a confused look and asked, "What! Do you guys have that much more space? Why waste it? A little desert never hurt anyone!"

"It's not like the desert in Vacuo, Sun. The wildlife here is more dangerous than most other regions," Blake revealed.

Sun's face finally lost its cheery demeanor for a moment and asked, "So, they give us a terrible island, in the corner of Remnant, to try and shut us up?"

"That's a pretty good summary, yeah," Blake admitted nonchalantly.

"Huh. Jerks," Sun scoffed.

'We try to make the best of things," Blake said somberly. Clearly, this wasn't the first time she had had this discussion with someone.

The two paused their walk to look at the view of the town that the road afforded. The road they were on went downhill and to the side, bordered by palm trees and homes with either canvas or wood roofs. The vista of palm trees spreaded out to the edge of mountainous dunes in the distance. Right in the middle of all this was a large house with an open courtyard that the road appeared to lead directly to. The house was at least three stories and was the only building in the whole area with a sophisticated roof.

Sun's mouth opened with awe as he said, "Whoa…"

Blake shook her head at Sun's enthusiasm and said: "This is Kuo Kuana."

"It's... beautiful. I take it all back. This place looks great! Why would anyone ever want to leave?" Sun asked his unwilling travel partner.

"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. That we're still second-class citizens…" Blake said as her face lowered.

Blake's face softened slightly before she said, "Alright, time to go home.

Sun moved his hand to Blake's other shoulder and pulled her in to ask, "Oh yeah? Which one's yours? Can you see it from here?" Sun then used his free hand like a visor to help him peer, at the houses.

"Yea…" Blake replied shyly,

"Is it that one? What about that tiny one down there? I like the paint job," Sun questioned as he pointed around.

Blake took Sun's intruding arm by the wrist and directed it toward the large house as she said, "It's... that one."

Sun stared for a second before pointing his finger at her with a questioning expression. Blake nodded, and Sun looked at her for a beat before taking his arm off her and stepping back.

Blake and Sun walked up the stone steps to the front door of the house. Blake hesitated when she moved to use the knocker, though.

"What is it?" Sun inquired

"I um... it's just been a long time since I've seen my parents," Blake admitted as her cat ears squinted down.

Sun shrugged and said, "Well, you came all this way."

Blake took a quick breath for courage and banged the door knocker. It made a loud, heavy, resonating sound on the large door. Sun starred up, stepping back while Blake politely backed away from the door a few paces.

Sun pointed up at the door and said, "Okay, if we're honest, that's kind of intimidating."

Both Sun and Blake gave a start at the sound of the door being opened. Kali Belladonna, a short female cat Faunus was behind it, looking around at the visitors. Her ears perked, and she moved the door out of the way so she could step forward when she recognized her daughter.

Kali, almost in disbelief, asked, "Blake?"

Blake awkwardly lifted her arm in greeting as she said, "Hi, mom."

Kale stepped forward and hugged her daughter, and said, "My baby girl."

Blake hesitated uncertainly for a moment before her face gentled into a smile, and she hugged her mother back.

"Kali! Who is it?" A deep voice asked.

From inside the house, footsteps came closer, and a shadow fell onto the carpeted entryway. Kali let go of Blake and turned behind her at the sound of Ghira Belladonna's voice.

Ghira Belladonna was a tall, muscular Faunus with black hair, a thick beard, and yellow eyes. For his top, he wore an open dark-violet coat with white fur trim, exposing a patch of black fur on his chest. Over his beige pants was a matching sash that wrapped around his waist and was secured with a large, silver metal buckle. On the shoulder of his coat was a silver metal spaulder, which through a pair of curved strips across the chest attached as a clasp on the opposite front panel of the coat. His black leather boots' white toes had a shape reminiscent of paws with claws at the tips. His physique was in general quite hairy, as what little could be seen of his bare arms and the backs of his wrists were shown to be covered in thick, black fur.

Sun grinned, pleased at Blake's welcome. Blake had her hands clasped in front of her, awaiting her father's reaction. Kali had not let go, with her hands supportively on Blake's shoulder and arm. Ghira said nothing but smiled, clearly happy. Blake smiled back, relieved. She and Sun exchange sideways glances as they went into the house.

The air around a nearby bush distorted as the illusion shifted from a bush to a new figure, a teenage girl wearing a white shirt and black leather jacket, along with armored grey pants with holsters for her Tonfas. Her hair was pitch black with white highlights, and two brown-grey fox-like ears with white interiors were on her head.

The girl looked down at herself, double-checking her appearance before holding her wrist up to her face, and speaking into the small display screen with "this is Nia; I've located Belladonna…"

Yang Xiao Long lifted up her head and arms as she readied for a fight. Taiyang Xiao Long took a swing at her with his left hand, but she easily blocked it with her robotic wrist, pushing his hand away from her. The interplay repeated with his right and her left, only this time Yang used the momentum to turn and come back at her father with a roundhouse kick. Taiyang bent backward to dodge it, his legs in a lunge. He gave his daughter a solid punch, pushing her back a few feet.

Nearby, their corgi, Zwei, watched the two spar, panting happily. Beside him was a low stool with two white towels. His head changed angles, oscillating to the sounds of grunts and contact. Abruptly he held his head straight and made a noise of surprise.

Taiyang stood alone and moved forward, doing his own roundhouse kick. Yang joined both hands atop each other to block Tai's landing foot. With a loud cry, she pushed it up and back. Taiyang regained his footing in a flip while Yang waited for his landing. Using her robotic arm, she knocked him back with a single hit.

Holding onto his right bicep, Tai slid through the dirt, his feet flat on the ground until he came to a stop.

"Whoa, that thing packs a punch!" Taiyang observed

Yang held out her hands and said, "We've been at this for weeks. I get it; you wanna make sure I can still fight...I think I'm doing just fine" The blond brawler then bumped her own fists together as a show of strength.

Just then, Qrow Branwen appeared from the trees around the duo, sipping his flask as he said, "Listen to what he's saying, Yang, as much of a buzzkill as he is, he knows his stuff."

Tai scoffed at the sight of his ex-wife's brother and said, "you look well…"

"I consume enough alcohol that the venom hardly left any aftereffects...I need to talk to you for a sec Yang.." Qrow requested in-between sips.

Yang's violent eyes squinted as she asked, "What? Why?"

Qrow sighed and said, "since you are almost back on your feet, our new friends have some intel you'll be interested in, on the Belladonna girl….and on your mom."

Yang and Tai's jaws dropped at the exact same time….

Author's note- Sorry for the wait; I had some real trouble figuring out this chapter...

1. Not many changes; just gotta get the primary RWBY stuff done.

2. Sorry for incorrectly talking about the time jump last chapter, this story stated one month after Beacon, and now we are on the proper time frame.

3. Thought's on Nia's new human guise? the outfit is different now that I don't need to tease she's a zoroark, and the Faunus ears are obviously an undercover addition