"Dorado, here pick this box up, its just some fishing nets and lines your aunt uses." Cosum said, handing me a smaller box than most of the ones that were spread around the smaller hut. It was easier to carry than some of the other boxes, so I nodded and followed behind him.
Walking out into the bright shining sun was just a different feeling entirely to me. I felt warm and heat while I was in mantle, sure, but in this naturally humid and sunny region, it quickly reigned on me just how hot it could really get. I felt more tired than I had before, and while that would be bothersome to me, the tired from working and wanting to finish the tasks meant that I would only think of what was in front of me.
I felt a cool breeze pass by, reinvigorating me enough to make it to the shadier treeline that was along the road inland. From there, it was an easier trip, savoring each breeze between the buildings before we made it to a much more homely hut.
Standing atop a bamboo foundation, the house was two stories, a wide spacious living room that connected to a dining room, which in turn connected to a kitchen. There was a storage area behind there as well, since apparently Cosum prepped and cooked some meals for others in exchange for some goods and help from other locals. He had apparently been a chef back in Mistral and would help the island on major holidays or events' feasts, which had explained the delicious meal he made just with fish and rice last night.
Past the living room area, was a stairway, which led to the bedrooms upstairs, my aunt and uncle's being across from me and me being furthest from the stairs. My room was small, not much in the way of decorations on account of not really having much, but some of the locals provided some clothes and old furniture they don't have uses for anymore, so that was nice of them.
I pushed open the door to my aunt and uncle's room, which would probably be a lot more spacious and bigger than my room, if not for the multiple boxes still stacked and put away for now until we unpack later. They had been given some of the furniture for the new house by the Belladonna's, since they had offered me to live with them without any real warning for it. I don't think they had minded, since my aunt seemed really kind to me and my uncle just looked happier at the prospect of having someone else in the house with him.
I dropped the box I held near the stack with the other work gear my aunt had, rushing downstairs to where the two adults were, chatting between themselves as I crashed into the new couch that we had received from the Belladonnas. Nuzzling into the comfy furniture, I heard the two laugh lightly as I sat up and looked towards them.
"That was the last box, Aunty Riona! I put it with your other work stuff!" I called to her as she came over, sitting by my head as she gently stroked my hair.
"Great! Now all I need to do is organize it before tomorrow. Any plans for you, hun?" She asked, calling back to Cosum, who sat by my feet, rubbing my back in small circles.
"Hmm, not really. I'm sure it'll just be a lot of unpacking and organizing the rest of the house. Maybe I'll head over to the market to grab something to commemorate our move once we finally finish. What'dya say, Dorado, anything in particular you wanna eat?"
I thought over for a minute, shaking my head as I nuzzled further into the comfort I was receiving. "No, I'm not picky. I'll eat whatever you make."
He chuckled as he gave me a solid pat on the back, "Then what if I made a big crab filled with beans! Would you eat that?"
I laughed at the ridiculous image that popped into my head, the three of us finding a comforting laughter that passed into the evening of our move. As the sun started to fall further into the sky and the sky itself became a relaxing and beautiful orange; I held onto the nice comforting warmth that filled the new home.
|•|
The days had gone by relatively quickly for me. First there was helping my aunt and uncle with putting up their stuff in the new home closer inland of the island. Then there was getting acquainted with many of the other residents, a lot of them stopping by and giving me some well wishes on my stay here. I thanked them all, as my father would have scolded me on it, before I went back to helping with some boxes.
It was a few days after finishing our move that me and Riona went to the bazaar to look for some clothes that I could use, since most of my old stuff was probably trashed or sold back in mantle. I got some hand me downs from other families and bought some more custom made items from the seamstress ladies that worked a bit inland. I found a nice red sleeveless jacket that I soon took to wearing around everywhere, even with the heat of the sun bearing down on me.
We stopped by various stalls and stands and houses, and even had a bit of relaxation sitting by the ocean with our feet in the water. I laid back, enjoying the beams of sun shining down against me as Riona came back with some small snacks to enjoy. I held back against the uncomfortable twisting in my stomach, much like the night prior, as she soon dug into her food, looking out into the ocean as she chewed. I followed her lead a moment after, biting lightly as I tried to see what it was she was seeing.
"So," she munched on a small piece of toast, with what looked like cheese and other toppings that definitely had much more in it than the bare toast I had in my hands, "Feelin the ocean pull ya?" she asked, breaking her impromptu silence.
"What do you mean, Aunty Riona?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.
She smiled again, before shaking her head. "Nah, just something my old man once said to us a while back. Me and sis were out here on a dock like this one when he had asked. I said yes, cause I wanted to just jump into the ocean and figured it'd be a good excuse." She kicked her foot, water flying out a small distance to make her point.
"And then he shoved me in himself." She laughed at the memory, and I couldn't help but stare at her, the pain in her eyes at the memory as she took another bite of the toast, finishing her food. "I freaked, choked for a second, and then felt it. The pull of the water, to just feel the ocean around you and thrive in it." She smiled, kicking her feet under the surface, creating a small current between her legs.
"Ever since, then, I knew my place was the ocean. I became a diver fishmonger, found a man that can cook what I catch, and have been living my life to the fullest." She frowned suddenly, leaning forward onto her knees. "And then Sol went off to find her own dream. She wanted to find her own Cosum, and since you're here I take it she found someone grand but… she stopped contacting us after they decided to work off the rest of his debt to the SDC."
I looked down at my toast, barely a quarter gone as I felt a lump in my throat hold. "Dad was… his name was Bira. He was strong, and really brave. I… I know that they were going to move out of Mantle, to somewhere closer to Mistral. I saw the house and everything, and we were going to have new neighbors and… I…." My throat clogged up as I felt the tears brimming against my eyes. I felt her hug me tightly, which I reciprocated almost immediately.
I felt tired, horrible, but I knew that my dad wouldn't want me dwelling on everything that happened. I just wished he could be here to tell me that.
|•|
Overall, the transition from the smaller shack to the new house had gone smoothly, and I laid in my new bed and stared at the bare walls of my now furnished room. A small dresser and closet stored all my clothes, a nice window with a decent view of the Belladonna's house, and a small balcony area.
When I had been told of the Belladonna's house being the rather large mansion in the center of the town and not just a town hall of sorts, I was dumbfounded. I shared my feelings with Blake and Adam, who had decided to come visit and help with setting up my room, and their reactions were to laugh, in Adam's case, and blush in embarrassment, in Blake's case.
Adam had been supportive of my transition the most, I noticed. He made sure to pay attention to me, telling me when I should stop pushing myself when I hadn't noticed, or even offering small snacks for me to munch on throughout the day when he noticed I was tired. I appreciated his concern for me, though I felt awkward about it most of the time. He wasn't much older than me, at least by his height and if he told the truth about his age, but it always seemed like I was on some sort of escort duty between them.
It had been a few days and I had gotten adjusted as well as I could in Kuo Kuana, Blake and Adam showing me around to what they could do and telling me all about themselves. It felt nice, while I had a few friends back in Mantle, they always acted a lot different from Blake and Adam. They hadn't engaged with me as much as those two, and it made me feel wanted beyond all belief I had at the time. It was during one of those moments that they felt they could tell me more.
"Blake's parents are trying to actually do something about that." Adam started, "There's a lot of people who take advantage of us Faunus, because of either fear or bad upbringings. Its to the point that there are some people who try to hurt us on purpose only because we are Faunus, so they're trying to get important people to start making some changes to things." He explained to me while we were walking around one day.
"Is that why you all were all the way in Mantle? To talk to the important people up there?" I thought over it for a bit before my curiosity got the better of me. "But then who told you about me? I don't think my family knew anyone important."
"There was a couple that spoke to us after the rally my parents held." Blake answered, smiling softly at me. "They had told us about what happened at the mine, that they had known your parents for a few years since they had started working for the SDC. They heard that you had been thrown out and their daughter all but demanded they do something to help." She giggled lightly, remembering something that even made Adam give a light chuckle to the thought of it. "After that, we just went to your neighborhood and looked around."
I nodded, mumbling a 'thanks' again as I thought it over more. "... so if they do well, then other kids won't have to go through all this, right?" I wasn't sure where the surge of confidence had come from for it, but the idea of being able to stop someone else from losing everything like I had brought a small fire in my chest. They looked at each other once more, smiling even larger as they both nodded.
"Yes," Adam said, ruffling my hair, "they can stop more families from breaking apart like ours. That's why we help them whenever we can. We just want to make the world better for everyone to live peacefully." He gave me a stern look though as I stared at him. His next words pierced through that warm feeling in my chest and replaced it with a chilling cold I hadn't felt since being in Mantle.
"But you aren't going to be allowed to help out as you are now." His tone was straightforward, piercing me with the blue eyes that I had seen just minutes before filled with a light that now seemed to have been drowned in whatever cold demeanor he was holding now.
"W-why not!?" I couldn't understand it; why would he forbid me from helping? My breathing had begun to get sporadic, hard to find a suitable rhythm as the color and visions around me soon started to fade in a strange darkness that consumed me wholly. "I can help! I-I know the other families from the mines! I-I can move things around and help bring things for everyone! I want to help! I don't want to stay behind a-".
And just as quickly as it came, a new feeling emerged within me. The same, familiar warmth of comfort that just radiated off of Blake whenever I felt it. The darkness that threatened to swallow me whole simply vanished, and in a second, I also felt her tremble as she held me close.
"How can you worry about others so much when you aren't even eating right!" She sobbed out to me, and for once, I looked down at my arms, my thin, almost to the bone, arms. I looked at Adam, just to see the confirmation straight through his eyes, through the pain and pity he showed, I could see the reflection of me, of the thin, wiry, body that I had been reduced to.
I don't know when it started, or when it had really progressed to that point. Had I always been that small, no. When I was with my parents, I was just as healthy as any other kid. So was it after the accident that I got to this point. The last time I fully ate something was when they had picked me up, I think. More than a few bites at least.
I frowned, remembering all the times my aunt and uncle scolded me for eating too little, only feeling a bit of assurance when I would bring the leftovers I had with me as snacks. Even then, I would eat for a bit, then toss the overwhelming amount when I got tired of carrying it all.
My first worry was that I was just worrying those around me more, something I would have brought up but the impact of Blake's words struck a chord in me that stopped that thought from leaving my lips. I was a little thankful they told me this, since I couldn't see confronting your nephew about this would be any easier for my aunt and uncle, let alone my parents.
That thought brought a chill to my spine as I really thought about it all. What would my parents say about how I am now? Would my mom do what she always did and scold me, her eyes filled with the same worry she would show when I would move some of the uncut dust crystals for them? Would my dad look at me with disappointment like when I refused to help them out one night because they had spent a longer time in the mine for a shift? I could barely think of how they would act as I felt another pair of arms wrap around me, more of that comforting warmth as I felt Adam breathe a shaky breath, holding himself back a bit.
I hugged the two of them back, tears streaking my face as the damn broke once more. I realized now how important these two were to me. I would be fine living with my aunt and uncle, and maybe in a few years I'd have confronted my pain like I had these past few days, but by then I'm sure the damage I would have done would be a lot worse.
And I'm sure that if that were the case, I'd have joined my parents a lot sooner than they'd be ready to accept me.
|•|
We stayed together for a few more hours, Blake and Adam carefully watching me after I had spent most of my energy crying with Blake. It felt weird to reanalyze my exhaustion, clearly having been from being malnourished instead of the change in environment. We talked for a little while more before they brought me back home, promising to continue to check up on me until the Belladonna's made plans to travel back to Mistral and continue their campaigning. When I arrived again, I ran to my aunt and uncle, apologizing sincerely for worrying them and promising to try to eat more, which made them cry and promise to help as best as they could. I knew they were happy tears, and I'd have joined them if I wasn't already so drained. It took a lot of effort to make it back at this point, so I asked to go to my room and sleep for a bit, which they helped me with.
The next few days blurred before my eyes, working myself back to a healthier eating habit with the help of my family, even Blake and Adam came by every so often to talk and hang out. I fell into a pattern soon enough, and it wasn't until a few more months later that anything would change.
The Belladonna's, having felt confident enough in leaving me behind as they continued their protests, soon left for Mistral once again. I was told by Adam that they would consider having me join in the protests whenever I was healthier since sometimes the humans didn't respond to the peaceful nature of the White Fang with peace themselves.
Most of my day was spent at a schoolhouse in Kuo Kuana that was taught by a kind and silly squid Faunus named Rippley. Apparently he had learned and studied in Vale before becoming the teacher for Menagerie, but had come back here when he heard that the previous teacher had been set to retire soon. Rippley was fun, somehow knowing how best to capture and keep the student's attention so that they could understand the topics he discussed better.
Blake and Adam would stop by and have a few classes with us all, but they had told me before that any that were missed because they would go on the protests with the Belladonna's were still taught to them. Blake and Adam were both already pretty smart either way, so while I did miss hanging with them when they were gone, I knew that at least they were using their time to help out more unfortunate people.
With my life slowly falling into a rhythm I felt comfortable in, and with a few more months of the pattern, I finally got back to a healthy size, at least according to the doctor my aunt and uncle would take me to. As soon as we heard the news, my aunt and uncle hugged me while crying tears of joy. We had decided to celebrate with some of my uncle's more signature dishes that he had learned in Mistral, heading to the marketplace to buy groceries to prepare.
We talked about small worries, what I had been learning in school recently, even some stories from Riona about the strange fish she'll catch glimpses of while she's fishing. Throughout our walk, my eyes would trail and follow some of the Faunus that were wearing the distinct uniform of the White Fang, offering help to some shop owners and even doing menial tasks like delivering the news in the form of the Kuana Press articles that helped to keep many of Menagerie informed of the outside news. I couldn't help but start thinking of the Belladonna's and Adam, wondering how they were doing back over in Mistral for their rallies.
If things were progressing or not, or even if they found anything interesting in their travels, I couldn't put away the thoughts that I had missed them being around. It must have shown on my face as well, since a little while after pondering and as a result missing them, Cosum picked me up and set me on his shoulders in one quick motion.
"I'm sure Blake and Adam will be very happy to hear that you're doing better now. Have you written to them recently? We can have the White Fang deliver it out to them." He rubbed my back in small circles as he spoke, soothing my bad feelings away.
"I'll write as soon as we get home! I gotta tell Adam especially since he said I couldn't join them until I was okay." I spoke carefree, never noticing the look that they had given to each other that day as they let me continue to blabber on.
It wouldn't be until a few months later that I would figure out why that had been the case.
|•|
Months would go by, and pretty soon it had been a year since I had moved to Menagerie. My days were learning at the school, helping my aunt with fishing or my uncle with cooking, and doing whatever I needed to build my strength back up to an appropriate level for someone my age. I would help out whoever would need it when I'm around, and overall many of the locals had taken a shine to me. Whenever I had free time, I would run around the nearby jungle, working on my speed and agility that having a smaller body would allow me.
The jungle in itself was interesting. While it encompassed the island and was extremely close to the residential areas of Kuo Kuana, the jungle didn't have any stray grimm unlike most of Remnant. It held its own habitat, something that the islanders would always choose to keep intact rather than disturb, with good reason as the forest was very filled with green vegetation and flora. The arid environment meant that many trees, bushes, and the like would grow out and create many difficult trails to follow, which I took full advantage of.
That year would turn to two, then three. The White Fang had been going on for a while and continued to hold rallies and protests out in Mistral and Atlas led to not many changes from what he had been told whenever they would return for a month or two. He missed both Blake and Adam, spending time with them whenever they were around, as well as meeting Ilia Amitola, another orphaned faunus that they had brought back with them.
The same time every year, I would spend my day alone on the pier. I'd stare out towards Mantle, towards Atlas and my old home, and just remember. Remember their faces, their smile and laugh, their love. I'd cry, miss them, wish for them to come back, and then tell them anything new I'd learned that year. It was this year that I also told them what I wanted to do now. With resolve and confidence, I made my way to the Belladonnas, knocking against the door to the mansion. Before, I could never dream of approaching such a grand house, but this had slowly become my second playhouse over the years of spending time with Blake and Adam. Kali opened the door, her eyes widening at my appearance.
"Dorado? I thought you would be at the pier until nightfall today. What brings you all the way here on such an important day?" Her care and worry always made me happy to hear, knowing that someone so caring would genuinely do all she could to assuage me of anything comforted me.
"Hey Kali, I wanted to talk to Ghira if he isn't too busy. I have something I want to talk to him about." No waver in my voice, no hesitation.
"Oh? I believe he should be in his study but I must warn you, even if it is proper to ask the father for his daughter, Ghira won't let just anyone take away Blakey from us!" Her smile knocked out some of my confidence as heat rushed up my face.
"N-no! It's not like that! I just…" I looked down, swallowing once again my doubts before I looked back up at her and stared her in the eyes.
"I want to join the White Fang."
|•|
A/N: I'm truthfully unsure about how the pacing seems a lot of the time. I know some people are okay with it, but to me it feels like the story seems to jump around often even between the small breaks I set. As I said before, Dorado has problems. Yes, his eating has been taken care of, but he is still grieving and this decision may or may not have come around because of it. But we will see more next time as Dorado goes and get the White Fang experience, both good and bad.
You know, whenever exactly 'next time' entails.
Forever trapped in some blank white void of nothingness,
TechTank