Ugh, so tired all the time thanks to these twelve hour shifts that it's making it hard to continue. When I'm not working I'm sleeping, and when I'm not sleeping I'm working. Honestly this whole way of life is making me more worried about my dog and my writing more than anything. I mean my doggo is getting neglected and I can't let off steam when I write.
(Sigh) Adulting is hard.
Should he be nervous? There wasn't really a reason for him to be...well, except for being hailed as a hero for taking down one of Atlas's most notorious terrorists that is. Oh and then there was the fact that the White Fang organization, named him one of their greatest enemies alongside the Schnee Dust Company. His mind continued to race as he asked himself again if he should be nervous. Eventually he looked down at his left leg and saw it moving up and down without him thinking about it.
Okay maybe he was a little more than nervous but who could blame him, honestly. Hell he didn't even know he was a hero until some of the passing soldiers at the Argus military base started congratulating him for his achievement. At first he thought it was because they got the defense shield here in one piece, but as the soldiers started asking how he took down Adam Taurus, he started drawing blanks. He'd never heard of the faunus's name before that moment, and it was taken by the soldiers as the faunus not even being worth remembering.
They laughed and slapped his shoulders playfully before moving on, wishing him great success in the future as they passed him by. Jaune watched them go but felt even more confused then ever as he thought back on what they were talking about. Before he could think on it any further, a hand grabbed him from behind and spun him around. "Ilia"?! The blonde said as he came face to face with the chameleon girl before she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him away. She was smaller then he was but man did she have the strength to keep him from getting free. "You know this is a little uncomfortable, I can walk on my own if you'd ju- woah"!
Ilia opened the door they'd just arrived at and pushed him through it with enough strength to make him stumble forward a few feat. When he finally balanced himself, the blonde looked up to see several others in the room besides himself and Ilia. Winter, along with the rest of his team were present, and standing in between them all was one other person they'd been introduced to upon their arrival in Argus. Caroline Cordovin, the leader of the Argus military base and someone he had to bend over for just to shake her hand.
"Apologies mister Arc, I'd forgotten how uncivilized these animals can be when I sent her after you". Cordovin looked Ilia's way and leveled a look of disgust when the faunus looked back at her with a glare. Jaune looked at the two, eyes moving from left to right and could tell there was definitely no love lost between them. Ilia and Cordovin had been like this ever since they met each other, or at least until Cordovin realized Ilia was a faunus. Atlesian racism at its finest he supposed. "It's fine ma'am but could you please not speak that way about my teammate, she's deserves a bit more respect for helping to bring the defense shield in safely".
Ilia crossed her arms and smirked Cordovin's way.
Cordovin for her part simply huffed and looked away, "unlikely, but I'd rather not get into debate with you about this at the moment. Moving on, your probably wondering why we summoned you here during your downtime". It did cross his mind but he kinda had a guess as to what they were about to talk about. "Does this have anything to do with why soldiers keep congratulating me in the hallways"? Cordovin looked to Winter and received a nod. "I'm afraid that is the reason mister Arc. Overnight you've become somewhat of a hero to the people of Atlas, and humans in general".
Winter stepped towards him and handed her scroll over, leaving a video on pause for him to play. Once he had the scroll in his hands, Jaune pressed down on the play sign and saw just why this meeting was so important. Once the video was over, he walked over to the nearest chair and sat in silence. Internally he couldn't help but wonder if he should be nervous about the whole thing. After seeing his foot bouncing on it's own he realized that he wasn't just nervous, but far beyond that. A hand settled on his own and Jaune looked to his left to see a smiling Penny kneeling next to him. "It'll be okay Jaune, we're all here for you and that's why Specialist Winter wanted to let you know that we'll be heading back to Atlas immediately".
All the nerves in his body suddenly started to relax and he slumped forward, letting out a sigh in relief. Jaune placed his free hand over Penny's and chuckled as he met her eyes. "That's good to know, and thank you Penny, I think I've finally calmed down a bit thanks to you". The blonde let go of her hand and looked back to his teacher, "if all of us are here, I take it that transport has already been arranged"? Cordovin nodded at the question. "Atlas prides itself on doing things as fast and effectively as possible. Transport and personnel, both of which are amongst my most trusted, will see you home in Atlas safe and sound; you have my word".
Jaune wanted to correct her and tell her, his home wasn't in Atlas but decided against it in the end. "This sucks" he groaned as he leaned back "and here I was hoping I'd get to go see my sister while I was here". Winter's eyes narrowed slightly before she turned to Cordovin. Words were unnecessary because it seemed Cordovin had come to the same idea. The smaller woman opened her scroll and stepped away for a minute, leaving the conversation to Winter while she arranged guard detail for the young Arc's family.
With Jaune's rise in fame/infamy amongst the populace, there was no doubt going to be supporters along with enemies popping up to try and knock him down. The supporters would try to ride his coattail to reach greater heights in their own life, but those that wanted to see his fall would do much more then give him a bad reputation. If the White Fangs previous actions were of any indication, then the young Arc's family could very well have their lives put in danger because of him.
Unfortunately Atlas didn't have any right to send troops or personnel to protect the Arc family in Vale, even if the two kingdoms were allies. But the same couldn't be said for the Arc's living here in Argus. Because they were here in her city, it fell under her and Atlas's jurisdiction, which intern gave her every right to protect them like any other citizen in her care. Cordovin smiled to herself, thinking that maybe giving them a little more protection from the White Fang then normal citizens wouldn't hurt anyone. After all they were the family of a young hero with more to give in the future.
Cordovin finished arranging the guards and decided that sending a report back to Ironwood would probably be a good idea too. With the report she would write, Cordovin hoped the General would ask Vale to protect the young Arc's family from the coming storm. After all, some protection - even if inadequate - was still better than nothing at all. To get everything in order, Cordovin had to excuse herself from the room but she was sure to see them off when the time came.
Winter instructed the team to gather their belongings and to meet on the bullhead platform within the next hour. It was just enough time for them to use the bathroom and get something to eat if they needed to. Jaune headed back to the room they were given upon arrival but was stopped part way by someone he didn't think would have ever wanted to talk to him alone if ever possible. Weiss actually cut him off from heading back to his room and pointed towards a hallway leading out towards the port where they arrived from.
"Don't talk, just go".
She didn't ask but demanded his compliance. Seeing no reason to refuse - and also a little curious/afraid as to what Weiss wanted - the blonde merely shrugged his shoulders and started down the hallway with the heiress following behind. "Just to be on the safe side, your not planning to kill me and throw me into the ocean when your done right"? Weiss stared at him like he was some kind of idiot, and to be fair he kinda felt like it, but who knew what Weiss had in store for him out there. For all he knew she could've had a glyph planted outside for when he showed up to launch him into space...well, that's if she had enough power for it.
Jaune stepped out onto the docks and felt the ocean air tickle his cheeks as the smell of salt filled his nose. It wasn't too strong for him, and the cool air was pleasant to say the least. It was around this time that Weiss walked passed him and stared out at the sea. On most occasions the two were so busy arguing with each other that Jaune never really saw Weiss when she was calm and collected like this. Seeing her now with the wind flowing through her snow white hair, he had to admit she was beautiful. Weiss turned and met his gaze but said nothing for the longest time until he spoke first.
"Soooo was there something you wanted"? He asked.
Weiss still remained silent but this time looked like she was having trouble trying to get her mouth moving. After watching the strange display for what felt like a few minutes, Jaune turned away and held a hand up. "Well if you remember what you wanted, just come find me later. I still need to get my stuff together before we head back to Atlas" he said. As soon as he started walking away Weiss yelled, "Thank you"! It was a complete shock that stopped him in his tracks and caused him to look back at the heiress.
When it was clear there was nobody else here on the dock with them, he stared at the heiress and saw she had pink tinted cheeks to compliment her embarrassment. Jaune scratched the side of his head and didn't really know how to respond to Weiss's sudden outburst. "Uh, your welcome I guess" he said after a moment. Weiss glared his way and stopped one foot on the ground, "is that all you have to say"! He did know what she was getting at so he decided to just be truthful on the matter. "Well what am I supposed to say? I can guess what your thanking me for but it's not like there's a whole conversation that can be built from from that".
Weiss looked dumbfounded for a brief moment before she regained her composure, she then covered the right side of her face with her hand and sighed. "My sister and I have incurred a debt the moment you saved her from dying on that ship" she said slowly. "I intend to pay it back for the both of us, so I need you to tell me what you want so we get this over with". Jaune stared at her blankly before speaking his mind, "your pretty jaded aren't you"? Weiss had never felt so insulted in all her life but the blonde didn't stop there, in fact his next words sapped the anger she was feeling right out of her and left her at a loss for words.
"I don't know how it works in high society but you genuinely don't look for gains when trying to save a friend".
Friend? He considered Winter, his superior and teacher, a friend? Weiss couldn't wrap her head around the idea at all. "How can you consider Winter your friend? She's your instructor, a Specialist and a woman that stands above most people in Atlas". Weiss's eyes narrowed on the blonde, "you know she's only teaching you because she was ordered to, right"?
Jaune nodded, already knowing that Winter was indeed doing her job to the upmost. Even still, those times where they talked openly with each other were firmly stuck in his head. It didn't feel like a subordinate talking to a superior, and those times where Winter would drop her stern mask and smile...yeah, you'd only do that with a genuine friend. Jaune smiled at Weiss and shrugged his shoulders. "I think our relationship is a bit more complex than that if you ask me".
Weiss balked at his words. "Relationship?! Wait, your not trying to become romantically involved with my sister, are you?! You fiend, I knew you were up to no good"! It took a good second for Weiss's accusation to register in his head, but as soon as it did, Jaune broke into a fit of laughter that brought tears to his eyes. The heiress didn't know what she had said to cause Jaune to start laughing like that but she personally didn't like the idea of being made a fool of.
"Stop laughing this instant"! She yelled. Jaune tried - he really did - but no matter how much effort he put in to stopping himself, a slight giggle seemed to keep finding it's way to slip past his lips. Weiss reached down for her rapier but remembered she'd left it back in her room before they were all summoned to talk about the White Fangs conference. Eventually the humiliation from Jaune's giggling became too much for her to bear and she resorted to something that she'd never done before. She raised her hand and slapped the blonde with all her might.
Jaune saw the action for what it was and leaned to the side, allowing his left shoulder to take the hit. His aura also reinforced his shoulder to lessen the damage but he might as well not even bothered. Her attack was so weak that he was pretty sure he didn't even need his aura to protect him from it. When it was clear her attack had no affect on him, and the fact he was laughing at her attempt, Weiss went on the attack; determined to shut him up with her own strength rather than with her weapon.
To any onlookers it might have seemed like two friends goofing around, but if anyone knew Weiss at all they'd have known that wasn't the case. The heiress kept slapping the blonde with all her strength and yet Jaune merely laughed and blocked with his shoulder. Eventually Jaune took the initiative and caught Weiss's hand when she tried striking in anger. Although he had an iron grip on her, the heiress swung with her free hand, only for the blonde to catch that one too.
"Okay, okay" he said with a goofy grin "I didn't mean to make you mad or anything, it's just that you caught me a little off guard". Jaune pulled both of Weiss's hands down so it wouldn't look like he was restraining her. Cause who knows what people would think if he was seen doing that to the Schnee heiress. Once they were out of the way, he loosened his grip to show that he was trusting her not to hit him again. Weiss noticed and turned her head quickly, allowing her hair to smack his arm.
"Look Weiss, to me your sister is nothing less than a good friend and mentor. Maybe when I first met her, I was a little awestruck by her beauty, but as I've train under Winter over these past few weeks; I just can't see her that way anymore".
Weiss met his gaze for a moment and huffed. "So you did have your eyes set on Winter" she said as her eyes slowly narrowed. "Busted" the blonde cursed and chuckled nervously. Weiss sighed at the confession, "it's fine" she eventually said. "I guess I can forgive you for it, but in exchange, my debt to you is here what dissolved". It didn't feel like an equal exchange but then again he didn't want the debts anyway. "Guess that only leaves Winter's then" the blonde said as he looked up to the sky. Honestly this whole thing was silly to him, but he just knew Weiss wouldn't let it go until it was resolved.
Taking a few minutes to think about it, an idea suddenly popped into his mind when he thought about their time on the ship. "I got it" he said quietly at first, then said it again more confidently when Weiss raised a brow in confusion. Jaune took a step back and released her wrists before holding out his right hand to her. "I want you to still fulfill your sister dying wish. I want you to accept me as a friend and for us to get along". Weiss didn't like being reminded of her sister's near death experience, but this wish of his was not something she could disregard so easily.
Weiss had to really think about his request for a moment because she'd had friends once before. Those so called friends, used their connections to her to curry favor with her father behind her back. When all was said and done, they abandoned her as soon as they got what they wanted. She remembered the pain all too easily, of them suddenly acting like they were always too busy to even talk to her. It was then that she learned and thus never truly offered her friendship to anyone from then on. Seeing this blonde that she'd only known for a little while, ask her for her friendship was unnerving to say the least.
"Why" she suddenly asked "why would you waist such an opportunity like the one you have right now on something so trivial like this"?
Was it trivial? He didn't know for sure but what he did know was that Winter was right about the future. "There will be times in the future where we will be forced to work with those we don't get along with. Hearing that from Winter is enough to make me worried about how I'll behave in the future if you and me can't even work together. Right now we aren't even official partners, let alone teammates, but what are we gonna do when we do have them? This type of infighting would do nothing but tear the team apart and I can't have that".
Weiss looked down at the hand he extended towards her and frowned. She was supposed to be the one teaching him how to be a proper hunter, and yet here he was making the most sense. "Tch" she clicked her tongue before standing a little more proudly. "Fine, then with this all of our debts are repaid in full" she said as she took his hand and shook it. Jaune nodded and let go of her hand.
It was then that the two realized their first actual problem. How did they actually act as friends from this point on? They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Jaune came up with an idea. It wasn't exactly a good idea but an idea nonetheless. "Then how about we start off with a symbol of our new found friendship" he said slowly. Weiss suddenly had a bad feeling about this but allowed him to continue anyways. Jaune cleared his throat and wore a serious expression, "from now on on I'll refer to you as snow angel".
Weiss's eye twitched and her teeth clenched together. "I would rather endure the White Fang torturing me to death then be referred to as snow angel"! Jaune chuckled at her reaction, "fine, ice queen it is". Weiss's patience for the Arc snapped and she chased down the blonde as he screamed in fear and ran for his life.
/
On the other side of the Argus base a rookie soldier stopped his patrol and turned around.
"What's up"? another soldier asked.
The rookie shook his head and hurried after his commanding officer. "Nothing sir, just swore I heard a girl screaming".
/
A good distance away, on a island filled with his kind, Ghira Belladonna looked over several pages of reports from his personal guard. More and more people had left their homes here in Menagerie to join the White Fang overseas in Mistral. The good thing about it was that it got rid of the undesirables on the island, making it more peaceful, but the bad side of it all was that it allowed Sienna to continue her terrorist actions against the humans. It was a give and take relationship that saddle him with more refugee's and not enough recruits for the Fang.
In all honesty he was glad for the downside because it meant less and less faunus were causing trouble in the neighboring kingdoms. Less trouble opened opportunities for cooperation between their kind and the humans. If only life was a little bit easier, then maybe the humans wouldn't group them all together and they'd actually be able to work towards something together. "If only" he grumbled.
So busy engrossed in the papers he had strewn over his desk that he didn't even notice when somebody else entered the room. It wasn't until two hands wrapped around him from behind that he froze in place and dropped his papers.
"I can hear the gears in your head turning from all the way downstairs".
Ghira sighed and placed a hand over his wife's that were linked together over his chest. "I keep wondering how we got into this position, and what we could do to get out of it" he confessed. Kali leaned forward and kissed his temple, "you've already taken step's to keep an eye on Sienna from the inside" she said quietly. Ghira nodded and sighed once more, using spy's and taking action against the White Fang was something he'd never thought he'd do after he retired. But the times were changing and the people who controlled the White Fang were only increasing the hate for all faunus across the world.
At the rate they were going, Menagerie wouldn't be able to sustain all the people coming in and out without expanding their borders to accommodate them. Such an act would likely cause tensions to rise with the neighboring kingdoms and it didn't help that the White Fang were burning their chances at having friendly ties. If Sienna was as ruthless here as she was in Mistral then he could've used that as leverage to oust her and the White Fang out of Menagerie. As it stood things needed to change, and they wouldn't if he just sat around doing nothing. That thought reminded him of his daughter and her undying determination to fight for a better future, even at the expense of her own.
"Kali has he arrived yet"?
His beloved wife nodded and released him before heading over to the door. Ghira collected all of the reports and stacked them on the corner of his desk, he needed to look as in control as possible to show no reason for doubt. When Kali opened the door an incredibly large faunus with rippling muscles walked in. The mask he normally wore was gone and the White Fang uniform he usually wore with pride was replaced with a dark green Jinbei that fit him nicely. The man was a bear faunus with barely recognizable animal features...that was until you you look underneath the skin and found out his muscle and bone mass was equal to that of his animal counterpart.
"Thank you for coming lieutenant Banesaw".
The bear faunus crossed his arms with a frown, "Banesaw is the name I was given by my people within the White Fang, outside of it I'd prefer if you'd call me Gerald. And it's not lieutenant anymore, it's division leader. With Adams death and the branch within Atlas uprooted, there's been a few promotions being thrown out to fill in the gaps". Ghira nodded and asked, "and Sienna? Have you looked into her true intentions behind the conference she held the other day"?
"If I didn't I wouldn't be standing here, now would I"?
He supposed not but then again it meant his hunch was right on the money. Ghira sighed and sat back in his chair. "The way forward has two routes for us, side with Sienna or side with me" the chief met Gerald's gaze "which will you choose"? Gerald turned away and looked out the balconies glass door. Honestly he didn't want to side with either of them, but the sad truth was that they no longer had a leader with the charisma that Adam had on their side. Ghira had convinced him to take a closer look at Sienna and her motivation for using Adams death in such a way, and it turned out it was a power grab more than anything.
/
The day of the conference and just after the rousing speech she'd given, Sienna stepped off the stage with her entourage close behind. As they left the room she pulled out a piece of cloth and wrapped her hand with it, soaking up what little blood still leaked from her cuts. All of it going according to her plan.
"High leader, what's our next move? Do we go after the Arc's family like we do with the Schnee's"? Banesaw asked. He was new to this position but felt that answers were necessary. Sienna looked back at him and chuckled lightly, "after what I said in there it would definitely help to execute the Arc family, but destroying them now would only hurt our chances of opening a new White Fang branch in Vale. A branch in which I'm placing you in charge of".
Banesaw felt a bit shocked by the news but thanks to his mask it was hidden well. "And after we've successfully opened a branch in Vale, will you then allow us to go out and punish the Arc family"? Sienna shook her head, "gaining the trust of the people in Vale will take years to accomplish, it'd take even longer if we ended up killing the Arc's out of revenge. Our main focus should be Atlas and the Schnee's as before. Once we're able to gathered new recruits, and laid the foundation for the White Fangs expansion, we'll take the fight to Ironwood and his people".
Banesaw's hand clenched tightly as his teeth grit together. "What about the things you said to our people in that room? To not do anything against the Arc's would be a betrayal of the trust you inspired just minutes ago"! It was hard to keep the disdain out of his voice, and judging by the look on Sienna's face he had failed completely. The tiger faunus came to a stop with the rest of her people and turned to him with a snarl. "The White Fang has been divided for too long thanks to Adams radical beliefs in faunus supremacy. As of now you'll do what I order you to do, and if your lucky you'll have your chance to punish Jaune Arc when we move on Ironwood".
"But like you said that'll take years-"!
Sienna's patience snapped and she backhanded him with her left hand and sent him tumbling to the floor. He hadn't expected it and didn't have time to bring his aura up to shield himself. A shadow loomed over him and when he looked back, it was to see Sienna glaring down at him like he was nothing more than a bug. "Whether it be years or not, that's my final word on the matter, am I understood"? Banesaw nodded but didn't say a word. Having been satisfied Sienna turned away and continued on to her next destination without so much as giving him a second thought.
/
"A question" Gerald said as he looked back at the Chief of Menagerie. "Our people want revenge on the Arc's for what they did to Adam, would you be opposed to moving against them"? Ghira stood from his chair with a calm look on his face and met the bear faunus's gaze. "My one concern is creating peace between our kind and the humans. Your vendetta against the Arc's would only be a detriment to my long term plan and the prosperity of the faunus race as a whole".
Geralds anger peaked and he stormed over and slammed both hands on Ghira's desk causing the wood to creak and crack in some places from the force. "Then your no better then Sienna" the bear faunus snarled "at least with her, we'd be allowed to fight". Ghira sighed and looked to his wife, she showed no signs of fear whatsoever because she fully trusted his decision. "What your looking for is a return to the status quo, where another Adam would stand opposition to Sienna" Ghira said as stood a little taller, all but matching the bear faunus in height. "If that's all you want then you and yours have no place here".
Gerald clenched his hands and looked down at the ground. Even though he said what he did, he still didn't want to fall under Sienna's leadership because all of a sudden it was all too politically driven for his taste. But then again, all of it sort of was anyway. "Then what would you have us do" he asked through gritted teeth. Ghira gently placed a hand on the bear faunus's shoulder and answered, "I would have you return to your true reason for joining the Fang. For peace and equality for us all". Gerald turned away and huffed. "We can't go back to those days with picket signs Ghira. We've learned to defend ourselves so we wouldn't be powerless when people started to throw rocks at us". Menageries Chief gently squeezed the bear faunus's shoulder and smiled.
"And I would not ask you to change that".
Gerald looked up in surprise and saw a very serious expression over take Ghira's face. "I admit that perhaps my previous methods were not as perfect as I'd hoped. That is why I am in need of your help moving forward. Together we will use our strength to do good for both the faunus and humans". The bear faunus never thought he'd hear the Chief of Menagerie talk like this and couldn't help but feel a little excited by it. "What did you have in mind" he asked, more to sate his is curiosity then anything.
The Chief smiled knowingly and answered, "I was thinking a little poetic justice was in order".
The world is changing, so all must change with it or be swept away with the tide. In case your wondering why I had Ghira change his outlook on things...well I've always found his response to the growing terrorist on his doorstep to be pretty naive for a leader of his people. Plus, Blake had to get her willingness to fight for change from somewhere, right?