Big Issues
AN: I'm back with another chapter! Thanks to Fenixrevel for the fave and follow of this series!
Infighting
Anya and Talon Eaglewing stepped off the ferry and onto the island of Patch early in the morning. While Talon was naturally an early bird, Anya was always more of an owl, preferring nighttime. But they are professionals and would adapt as needed to get the job done.
Their trek from the docks to the Xiao Long-Rose home was delayed a bit as the sisters stopped at a bakery to grab breakfast for themselves… technically a second breakfast, and a little extra for the family as a gift. But it was what they heard when they arrived at the front door that gave them pause… and had them walking around to the back.
"I'm ready to do more than exercise and spar!" Yang was nearly yelling at her dad as they stood outside.
"Two months of training doesn't just 'make you ready'! You need more time to recover!" The father matched her volume.
"Right, and I couldn't do this a month ago!" Yang bent over and grabbed one of the large stones, easily the size of her head, and used her right arm to throw it nearly thirty feet away.
"If you think you are ready to go on missions because you can throw a rock, the doctors must've taken some of your brain with your arm!"
Silence reigned over the backyard for a few seconds as the two blondes stared at each other, though now it was more in shock than the anger from before.
"Alright, that's enough!" Denko gets in between his girlfriend and her father, arms raised to keep them apart.
Both of them had the sense to take a step back and get some deep breaths to help them calm down.
"It doesn't change that she's not ready." Tai had no problem speaking his mind before pointedly looking at Denko. "And don't tell me that it's because she spars with you now. I can see you're holding back when you do."
It was hard not to notice that Yang's eyes flashed red and she shot her boyfriend a hard look, only getting an apologetic look in return. She looked away with a huff, eyes returned to normal.
"Maybe we could set up a test? Besides, we were only asking for Yang to go on Watch missions." Denko turns back to Tai with the offer, trying to ease tensions.
It wasn't hard to see how conflicted the man is. He had nearly lost his daughters once before when they were young due to him neglecting them as he grieved over the loss of his wife. He'd gotten rather protective of his girls since then, which in turn eventually led to his eldest acting out in small ways, culminating in her motorcycle and her choice of attire as a Huntress while attending Beacon.
Add in the attack on Beacon that wound up costing Yang an arm, one of Ruby's friends dying on live broadcast, and he had to take them home from the hospital covered in injuries, the younger girl barely cleared from nearly a week unconscious in bed.
He had to be talked down from stopping Ruby when she left by Denko and Qrow, as well as from the team she was leaving with.
But Yang… he had spent months watching as she dealt with depression and PTSD from the attack on Beacon, the loss of her arm didn't help her mood or for him to ease up on keeping her as safe as possible.
The occasional Grimm attacks on their home were usually dealt with easily by himself or Denko, though he was torn between anxiety and pride when he heard about the big attack on her birthday. And with Yang training again… he was happy to see her mood improve in any way.
But the thoughts of her going back out to really fight Grimm… even possibly encountering the man that took her arm… his protectiveness was winning out. At the same time, a test could help settle his worst fears.
"Just what was going on back here? We could hear you from the front door." Talon speaks out, making the three blondes jump from the unexpected noise.
"H-hey girls!" Denko waves at the sisters nervously. "Um… how much did you hear?"
"Enough." Anya narrowed her eyes with crossed arms as she walked towards her team leader. That look never turned out good for him.
"We were just having a discussion about our family." Tai tries to calm things.
"A pretty loud discussion." Talon wasn't buying it.
"I just want to start doing some missions again. Get back into the swing of things again." Yang jumps in, using the numbers available to try making her dad ease up on his stance. "You know, starting small." The last part was directed at the father with narrowed eyes.
"What was that about a test?" Anya asks her leader.
"Oh, you know… two months of training and wanting to see the payoff." He scratches his head nervously, mostly from the look the taller sister was giving him.
"And your idea for a test?" She could see the gears in his head working overtime, though how much of it was due to her, Yang staring at him expectantly, or Taiyang looking at him with an odd combination of emotions that was hard to pin down.
"Probably find a pack of Grimm and let her take them out." He suggests, and he sees the sisters lifting an eyebrow each, expecting more from him. "Then set up a round with the best Huntsman at Signal to see how they think?"
That second part seemed to settle things pretty quick.
"Sounds reasonable." Anya agrees, with Talon nodding beside her. "What do you think?"
"Hmph! I say bring it on! I've been beating the brains out of Beowolves here since I was fourteen!" Yang emphasized by pounding her fists together, creating a small ripple that went through her arms and the rest of her body.
"I see I'm not winning this one." Taiyang mutters to himself before clearing his throat. "Fine, then I'll go down to the academy and arrange the match."
"Thanks." Denko was surprised by the turnaround, he had the front row seat from the beginning of the argument and how ugly it had become so quickly. He was almost sure that fists would've been flying if it had gone on much longer.
The youths waited as they watched Tai walk around the house and drive away in Zippy.
"Thanks for coming when you did, girls." Denko thanks his teammates with a smile.
"Wasn't planning on getting into family drama but we do need you." Anya tells him flatly.
"Goodwitch gave us a big mission and we need to start asap." Talon adds.
"You have a mission?" Yang asks as she walks closer to the team.
"We've been doing missions almost nonstop since the attack." Anya gestures at her sister.
"Did we miss anything big?" Denko was curious since his team rarely communicated, mostly because the network was disabled.
"Had a few leads thanks to Roman Torchwick's croney but they led to dead ends. And no one has seen him or the lackey either since the attack." Anya explains as she leans against the house.
"Ruby did say that Roman got eaten by a Griffin and Neo got blown off the ship before that." Yang tells them.
"True, but they are both known to be slippery and capable of escaping what should be secure." Talon says, adding a new perspective to the disappearances of both.
"Pretty much, we're simply going with 'no body, no death.'" Anya shrugs.
"So what's this big mission that we're being sent on?" Denko asks, getting back to the point of the visit.
The sisters were quiet as they both locked eyes with him before flicking their eyes at Yang. He caught the signal and his eyes widened a bit at the realization of what kind of mission it was.
"Hey Yang, can we get some drinks? We haven't had anything since we left Vale this morning." Talon was almost too quick to ask.
A flash of disappointment crossed the tubby blonde's face before playing the part of a good host to her friends. "Sure, come on in and I'll show you what we have."
Denko didn't miss the suspicious look she gave him before the door closed behind her. But now that he and Anya were alone outside, he gave her a questioning expression.
"Spring."
That was all he needed to hear to know what was going on. That particular search was beginning again and he sighed at that.
"Yang's not gonna be happy I'm leaving."
—-
"So… Do we have everything?" Farkas asks the sisters as he closes his personal computer, having finished writing up his report for the day about the investigation.
To be quite honest with himself, he was ready to leave Mistral. The views of the landscapes are vastly different compared to home in Solitas where most of what was available were snowdrifts, glaciers, some bare mountains and occasional canyons, with a few hardy forests along the southern coastlines.
But that was home for him, where his family is, and where he works. And he took pride in that.
"Almost done packing!" Weiss calls out from her room.
From his perspective, the younger Schnee had come a long way. She had come from Beacon shell shocked last year and now approaching a year later she had recovered and grew from it. Any semblance of being a stuck up heiress had been kicked out, though she was quick to admit that she was well on her way to recovery from that before coming back to Atlas. He couldn't help but agree, especially with Winter snarkily teasing her sister about how bad she had been at home.
Not only had she grown as a person but her skills had increased as well. And she was among the many that were glad that they were no longer growing physically anymore, even if Elm had been claiming that her muscles were bigger than ever from the constant weight training of moving her own bulk around.
The Schnee summons were something that constantly amazed him, Grimm that the girls had fought and slain now turned into their partners to combat their dark counterparts. He wished he had such a versatile semblance as they did, his own Wolf Spirit was something he kept for emergencies. Controlling it was a test of his concentration, not to maintain it but to end its use without running out of aura and not harming his allies.
"I am ready." Winter emerges from her own room with her own bag slung over her shoulder and setting it on the couch where she sat next to it.
"Good to know. Here's your copy." Farkas hands her a small memory stick. He had another copy for Weiss to hold onto for the trip home. It was a simple safety protocol to ensure that their information would make it back to General Ironwood. They may have sent the reports through the secure CCT network that the Ace Ops used, but they were under orders to not completely trust the networks security. Thus the necessity of the memory sticks with a specialized plug for use in select computers as well as each of them having a series of pass codes to use them in any way once they are plugged in.
Those sticks held every scrap of data that they had collected on this months long investigation, everything from their day to day activities to every fight they engaged in along with the turnouts. They could leave it to the techs to sort through the data and cross reference that with whatever intel that they can dig up from other sources.
At least they were likely to get a short break upon their return while the sorting was going on and they could get back to tracking the leads that all pointed back to Atlas.
"I'm ready to go." Weiss chirps, her bag hanging over her shoulder and sitting on the shelf of her hips. Wordlessly, the wolf faunus tossed her stick for her to catch, allowing her to stash it somewhere on her person to keep it safe and hidden from prying eyes and most quick searches.
"Good." Winter nods. "Our aircrafts will be arriving from Argus within the next ninety minutes. I suggest we be on our way to the docks at Haven so we can leave as soon as they arrive."
Farkas slipped his computer into his bag and shouldered it. By the door, he took a look around the house they had been using for months, recalling the work they did here, the jokes told, the singing that the women did, the training in the basement and yard.
"Perhaps I'll be back again." With that whimsical thought said, he closed the door.
An hour later, the Atlas team was standing by the docks of Haven Academy, letting the slight seclusion be their sanctuary from the common citizens. At the same time, it was odd to see that there weren't any students wandering the campus. There were barely any staff either, now that they were beginning to notice. Being in Mistral for the past few months had also allowed them to learn that the Grimm attacks on the Kingdom had waned to normal levels.
At best, it could be argued that the students and staff were still spread out across the Kingdom to keep the Grimm population down and classes would restart in a few more months with the fresh school year. At worst, the students were pulled from the school by their families and guardians worried about their safety after what happened at Beacon and the panic that brought Grimm attacking worldwide.
"There they are!" Weiss calls out, pointing towards the horizon where the distinct silhouettes of three Manta were heading their way, standing out from the Mistral traditional designs of ships meant for the water and the more utilitarian Bullheads used from Vale and Vacuo.
They didn't have long to wait for the sleek crafts to land and the pilots to emerge. "If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, we need to stretch our legs and take care of business while we are being refueled." The ranking officer informs the Specialist and Cadets.
"At ease." Farkas gave the pilots a quick salute. "Do what you need and we'll be ready for you to take us to Argus."
"Yes sir!" The pilots returned the salute out of habit, though they immediately relaxed as they left for the facilities for relief and refueling of their own, it was a long flight here and it would be a long flight back.
—-
The construction of the CCT Tower of Menagerie was going better than expected. The use of the excavation machinery with a good helping of Earth Dust allowed the workers to dig down deep into the mountain where not only did they find a reservoir fed by a spring that the coming school could use for its water needs, but the base for the transmitter and its generators were cleared and reinforced. The first of the generators were due to be lowered into the hole by the end of the day, the first of five, followed by the rest of the supports for the transmitter. The machine would be assembled in stages over the course of the next week, provided that everything went to plan.
At least on the days it did rain, they had tarps ready to keep the worst of the water out.
At the same time, the tunnels that were thought up with the underground classrooms were being dug out. Already, there was a steady breeze blowing through the mountain thanks to the hole burrowed straight through it. Several more were due to be made and the excess material was taken up to the surface for use in the above ground structures, mostly for walkways and walls.
Some of the buildings were rising from the ground already. The metal support beams are in and the foundations of the walls and floors were in place, some of the excavated stone piled nearby to be used in the lower portions of the outside walls. Larger and flatter slabs were stacked separately to be used in the floors.
In short, the construction project was coming along very well and with the high-spirited help of the civilians of Kuo Kuana, they were actually staying ahead of schedule. And aside from the three Atlesian workers who were specifically chosen by Ironwood for the task, only the Belladonna family and the three guests n the house knew that there was another tunnel being made that coiled around the others and went deep into the mountain, eventually to create a large cavern where they were told that it would be a vault to hold precious artifacts and relics. They'd install several sophisticated and unique locks and doors with some simple lighting down the pathway, and better lights would be set up within the vault itself.
"It's really coming true right before our eyes, isn't it?" Kali says as she leans her head against her husband's arm as they stood near the construction site.
"Yes, yes it is." The much larger man agrees as he shifts his arm to wrap it around her shoulders. It was heartening to see that his hard work was finally bearing fruit, even more so because he saw that the few humans that Atlas had sent, along with the couple from Mistral and Vacuo, were working without any sort of complaint or hesitancy with the faunus. There were more than a few who raised questions among the island natives about humans being on the island at all but those worries had been put to rest.
—-
"Hyah!" Blake yelled as she struck both of her blades at Sun, only for the red and gold staff to catch them easily, though he grunted from the effort of doing so; Blake had jumped to put her full weight behind the attack.
It took no small amount of effort for the monkey to absorb the impact, there was a lot of weight behind those blades after all. But he was able to push her back once the shock passed, making the fat cat back off as he readied his weapon for another engagement. Though the fact that Blake managed to pull off several backflips and handsprings to put the distance between them looked to be impossible for someone of her stature. For Sun, he simply took that as an opportunity to admire her form while he had the chance.
They were sparring once again, partly to keep their skills sharpened, partly for Sun to get used to his upgrades in a combat situation. It was noted that Blake had slacked in her training until recently, her waistline paying the price for that, but now that her mood had drastically improved she was all in for doubling up on her training to make up for that. Plus it was a fun way to spend more time with her boyfriend.
She was still getting used to using that term, having gotten used to simply being together through just about everything since they met early last year. She couldn't remember if she had ever called Adam her boyfriend when they were still together, just very close. Maybe it was due to the time that she might have started calling him that, she was having her doubts about the path he was leading, causing a rift that slowly widened until that day on the train.
But he had his chance to become a better person and threw that chance away, barreling headlong into causing as much pain as possible for everyone else.
She had moved on, dedicating herself to be a better person. To right the wrongs of her past. To fight against the likes of Adam.
And she had done so starting with the help of three young women who had become sisters to her. Admittedly, she was more of the problem child with the dark secrets, lies, and distance she'd put between herself and them, both socially and physically with the latter taken to extremes to her detriment. Yet it was during one of those times that made all of those negative aspects rise to the surface and spike higher than ever that she found someone who had started changing her life for the better.
The weekend together with the mischievous monkey had gotten her to open up to him more than she had with her own team and friends. It may have had something to do with the guilt of not doing so with them, the lack of decent sleep, and his persistence of not simply leaving her to wallow in her own grief, eventually becoming a sounding board at that tea shop where he gave his own advice and opinions that helped her immensely in the long run.
Then came the fight at the docks where they worked surprisingly well together against Roman and the White Fang. Then again during the investigation of the rally and subsequent fight through the streets of Vale. The dance. The Breach. The Fall of Beacon. The trip home to Menagerie.
She couldn't even imagine anyone else going through such lengths to be with her. To tolerate her at her worst and pull her up to stand on her own feet. To stand by her side, not expecting her to follow them. And she would do the same for him without question.
A flash of movement and light shook her from her wandering thoughts and made her look to her left where a clone was coming at her fast with its staff at the ready. But her ears caught footsteps coming from the left where Sun was attacking from himself, working on controlling his semblance without having to remain still.
The clone struck first, the golden staff passing through a thick Shadow that faded in the light. The real Blake had used her semblance to jump high again, coming down on the original monkey once again who was grinning as she came closer to his rotating staff. Just before making contact, Blake used Shadow again, appearing by his side as her clone was swept away. Yet she had to block when his clone struck at her from the side.
She couldn't help but smirk at the back and forth they were doing with their clone game. Hers were all about taking a hit for her while allowing her to move a short distance away in any direction, letting her flank or escape a situation. She had managed to make her clones solid enough for her to use them as a platform of sorts, requiring her to remain in contact from the moment of creation. For Sun, His were physical and could act independently from him, so long as he could keep his mind on them. The addition of a small explosion of light and aura when they were defeated was interesting.
Once again, the golden staff passed through Shadow, only to be brought up to block a very physical black sword. The original split his staff as he spun around, thrusting both halves around his clone into Blake's soft middle, pushing her away. However, the cat had wrapped her ribbon around the clone, meaning that when she was sent tumbling away, the clone was forced to follow.
Sun smirked at the move, his sneaky kitty was living up to her reputation. And he felt it was time to live up to his own.
The clone rolled close to Blake and shone brightly for a moment, her only warning besides the grin that crossed its features, and it exploded in a brilliant display of light and sound, like a firework.
The sand that was kicked up by the small burst was enough to create a smokescreen of sorts, making it difficult to see anything clearly until it settled. And Blake wasn't going to wait for it to.
Gambol Shroud burst through the veil of sand in its kusarigama form, wrapping around Riryu Jingu Bang and yanking it out of Sun's grip and pulling it back out of sight. Then it came again from a different angle, but this time Sun was able to dodge and grab onto the ribbon, yanking it to pull Blake towards him.
There was plenty of resistance, mostly due to the weight on the other end as she didn't expect his retaliation to be like that, and the sand didn't provide much in the way of traction. Add in that the veil of sand had fallen, and some had gotten into her eyes, distracting her; it was little wonder how she found herself being dragged to the grinning monkey.
"Hello there!" He tells her as she lands in his arms, somewhat glad that their increased training had tightened her waistline a bit already. Her belt was no longer something of a fashion statement but needed to keep her pants up right… mostly.
"I thought I'd get you with that for sure." Blake pouted but made no moves to stand on her own.
"Hehe, better luck next time. I grew up around worse sand so stuff like that I'm used to." He kept up his grin. "But there's the matter of our deal for winning this round?"
"Ah yes, how could I forget?" Blake put on a mocking air, complete with over the top regretful acting. She had won the first round of the day and received her prize and now it was her turn to give him his. With that, she pulled his head down to hers for a kiss on the cheek.
"Ready for round three?" Blake asks as she collects her weapon from the sand, knowing full well that a pair of blue eyes were watching as she bent over and gave a small wiggle of her hips. She was willing to 'cheat' for her next win, giving him a bit of 'excitement' might give her that edge. If not, they did bring their swimwear.
She didn't mind him staring at her rump, so long as he didn't look at anyone else's, though she had more than anyone else on the island did in that category so competition was scarce. And more than once, her own mother had commented that she practically had Sun on a leash, something that would make Ghira choke up a little at but giving a grudging approval for.
—-
"Tell our Brothers and Sisters on the mainland to be prepared by the end of the month. The most important parts of the Tower will be built by then. We will give the signal at the most opportune time to take it for ourselves." The elder Albain brother says to one of his followers without even looking at them.
The Faunus in the shadows of the already dimly lit office bowed his head from his kneeling position. What was most interesting about the man was that he seemed to have something leathery and moving on his back.
"For the good of the Faunus." Yuma spoke softly before leaving quickly and quietly.
The younger brother looked up to the elder. "Should we let it go for so long? We could take everything now when resistance would be minimal."
"Brother, we should let them do as much work for us as possible. Especially with the CCT Tower that is being built, we wouldn't want to risk any sort of sabotage to it at this point. And if the walls and structures are built, it would be even more defensible should Sienna or the Belladonna's attempt to take it back from us."
"I see, and they wouldn't risk a fight that could damage the equipment so soon either." Fennec strokes his chin.
"Trifa."
"Yes, Brother Corsac?"
"Be sure to take a few tours of the facility so that you know the layout. Do not allow the workers to know that you were ever there."
"Yes, Brother. For the good of the Faunus." Trifa bowed her head before standing and slipping out the door silently.
"Sister Ilia, maintain your duties of observing the Belladonna's and their guests." Fennec orders.
There was no immediate response from the chameleon girl, making the brothers glance back at her. Ilia was slowly rising to her feet and placing her mask on her face, the horns on the ceramic covering being uniquely hers.
"For the good of the Faunus." She speaks quietly before marching out the door.
"It seems that she has been managing her hatred of humans just enough to let them work unhindered." Fennec comments after he was sure he was alone with his brother.
"Haven't we all?" Corsec gives him a small grin.
"True. It will make ridding them from this island rather pleasing as a first step."
"Then we take back the palace?"
"They do have many of our loyal men there with few aligned with Sienna. All it would take is a small push and ensuring that they have the tools available for that time."
"And the other important matter? How long will we need to wait until Brother Adam tells us the details?"
"I'm sure that will come in time. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the plan would be to have each target fall in sequence."
"Hmm… true, that would be best."
"For the good of the Faunus."
"For the good of the Faunus."
—-
Ilia found Itazura sorting through a collection of paint cans, going through the trouble of spraying a little on a large leaf to check the colors. But she had eventually settled on red, green, and blue. Possibly so she didn't have to carry so much but it did raise the chameleon's curiosity as to why the fox was gathering the paint. It wasn't as if she used them on her own weapons to color them, wrong colors and type of paint for that purpose.
"What are you doing?" Ilia asks from the top of the wall that was recently built at the academy. It was interesting that a name had yet to be chosen for the place but those in charge had yet to come to a decision, partially because they were busy coordinating so many other things that they didn't give a name much thought.
"Just gonna have a little fun." Itazura answers vaguely, though the grin promised trouble.
"What kind of 'fun'?" Ilia couldn't place her finger on exactly why she was being drawn to the shorter girl. The mischievous glint in her eyes, the playful smile, the swaying of her tail, the twitching of her prosthetic ears…
It was actually the last part that had stuck in her mind for the past couple of weeks since they had their little heart to heart where they revealed their traumatic pasts to each other. How the girl had suffered so much at the hands of humans yet did not hate them. One of them becoming her brother in all but blood and surrounding herself with human friends, not that Faunus like Blake and Sun didn't count or even some other girl named Velvet. There may have been a few others Itazura spoke about but Ilia couldn't remember any names, partially because most of the time she wasn't really paying too much attention until their deep talk.
But to go through so much that made her own past look rather pleasant in comparison… it was… enlightening. And since then she had given the fox more attention and she had begun to notice a few things about her that she found interesting, one of which being that she wasn't afraid of poking her nose into things and places where she wasn't supposed to be. She had learned from one tale that the fox had snooped around in General Ironwood's scroll files thanks to a backdoor being made and she took advantage of that.
Of course, that raised a bit of jealousy. The White Fang would pay or do just about anything to have even five minutes to have that sort of access, not that they hadn't been trying in the past.
"Nothing destructive but I'm sure we can get a kick out of it." Itazura tells her vaguely, raising her interest.
For a few minutes, the pair walked around, the fox apparently looking for a perfect location that was out of the way of the night shift workers. Then they found a spot, an outer wall along a recently laid walkway, there was nothing but the solid light grey cement next to the stone curb and large square flagstone of the walkway.
A quick double check of their surroundings and Itazura gave her cans a quick shake. The red was used first, creating lines that made no sense at first but eventually they began to take shape.
"Were you out for a midnight stroll?" Itazura asks her audience of one.
"Um… something like that." Ilia rubs her arms as she spoke. The hissing of the spray cans filling the silence between them.
"Didn't take you one for hanging out in the nocturnal district."
"I'm used to not having a regular schedule."
"I think you'd like meeting our friends. At the very least, if you are ever in Vacuo you should stop by my teammates mothers restaurant. You'll be blown away for sure."
"Really?"
"Yep! Tell the chef I sent you and you'll get a discount on your first meal."
"Maybe."
"Trust me. Kali may be great in the kitchen but she's not a master like she is." She had to pause her work to wipe the drool away, it had been months since she had Her cooking. "Hmm… I wonder if I could convince Talon to set up shop here? She'd come to at least taste the food here."
"Talon? You mean the fat girl on your team?"
Itazura set down the red in favor of blue and shook it. "She's chubby, not fat." The fox was quick to correct as she began spraying. "She was practically scrawny compared to the other girls at Beacon by the time we left."
"Funny how that went. Hehe um… Blake is huge." Ilia scoffs… unconvincingly. "Can you imagine her sitting on someone at her size?"
Itazura bit her lip to prevent hers from speaking. It was obvious that the girl had it bad for Blake. It may have been unfortunate that the cat had a monkey wrapped around her finger and was happy about that. Not to mention the times that Blake had sat and/or lay on him, sometimes with pictures.
The lack of response and pause in the art were thankfully taken as planning the next step. Ilia stepped up with a can of green and began to spray, her focus on that allowing her to miss the sigh of relief from the fox.
Not that Itazura was done with the art yet. Picking up the red can again, she used both cans in her hands to effectively create purple. Even taking the red by itself to the side to write 'JERK'. As soon as Ilia stepped out of the way, she moved in to add a few more lines that completed a rather familiar face.
Adam's face.
With tears running down from under his mask, snot flowing from his nose and green teeth.
And Itazura began cackling at the sight. Ilia was torn between her own experience with the man, the respect that she had for him after years of siding with him in the various conflicts against the humans. But she had seen how Adam was back at the palace, a far cry from the controlled and measured passion that, admittedly, has been waning and cracking ever since Blake had left the White Fang. Thinking back now, he may have been slipping even before that, though she wasn't around him too often. Her feline friend would know how he was far better since they were practically joined at the hips since her parents left.
And she saw how far Adam had fallen from the caring man to one who had scarred and tried to kill her friend and her family.
And with that in mind, she looked back at the picture and couldn't hold back her grin. Spotting the cans nearby, she picked up two of them and blended them against the wall, making purple as she began to write letters of the first words that came to mind. Once done, she dropped the cans to openly laugh at the work done.
COLOR TRICK
That was what was signed on the side near the face of 'Adam' and both girls pretty much lost themselves in their giggles, falling to the stone floor as they let out their mirth.
"Haha, you know anyone who would be angry if they saw this?" Ilia asks once she could breathe correctly again.
"Probably just the guy who just built this." Itazura laughed. "Though the people at home would love to see this."
"More than likely. What are you going to do with it now?"
"Leave it for the workers to find at some point. Five Lien says Ghira will be the first from home to see it."
"Hmm… I'll say Sienna will find it. Five Lien."
"Deal!" The two girls shook on the bet.
"Right, now let's get out of here before one of the night crew finds us."
With that, the two separated. Itazura stopped to return the cans back to where she had taken them from. As for Ilia, she made it halfway down the mountain road easily before she was grabbed and dragged into a bush. Ilia was slammed against a tree and a hand on her chest held her there, the chameleon girls' skin flashing multiple colors in response to the surprise.
"What was that back there?"
Ilia refocused her eyes and found that it was Trifa holding her. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"You think I didn't see you laughing it up with that human-loving idiot in front of that graffiti?"
It was NOW that Ilia remembered that Trifa was sent to scout out the construction site. She apparently saw them and watched from a distance, waiting for this moment.
"Trifa, I've been living with them for the past couple months. Getting them to trust me means that they will be more willing to let me in on more secrets." Ilia was quick to counter, her eyes going red in anger that she was being questioned.
"Right, and the fact that you helped make that stupid doodle doesn't raise questions?"
"They are going to let down their guard even more now. I should be able to find out ALL of the details going on with the Tower. I've been there for the talks of when and how many people and supplies are coming to help with the Academy. You think they'd let me in the house if they knew I was telling you about this?"
Trifa stared into the red eyes of her captive for a few seconds for signs of deceit. Then she was released. "If you can't fool your friends, you can't fool your enemies."
"Exactly. And it's a good thing you didn't press your luck further." Ilia smirked as Trifa's eyes drifted down to find that Lightning Lash had been aimed at her stomach and she could have been zapped or stabbed at any moment. She didn't even notice when the weapon had been retrieved.
"We good now?"
"Fine, keep up the work. For the good of the Faunus."
"For the good of the Faunus." Ilia repeats as she watches the other girl disappear into the forest, likely to return to her own mission.
As the chameleon walked down the road to the Belladonna home, she couldn't help feeling that her words to Trifa sounded hollow.
—-
"Ready to go?" Farkas asks the pilots as they walk back to their aircrafts. The team had mostly been loitering on the landing pad since they went to relieve themselves.
"Yes sir! Make yourselves comfy and we'll get going."
The team climbed into their respective Manta's, having already stowed their gear on them. The pilots took care of their flight checks with practiced ease and pulled up a message.
"Looks like they want us to go straight back to Atlas with you guys. General's orders."
"Then let's get it done. You have enough fuel to get us home?" Farkas asks, he was still the team leader for the mission until they were debriefed by the General.
"It'll be close but that depends on if we have to divert or fight Grimm on the way."
"Then plan on swinging by Argus to make sure we make it. That would just be embarrassing to be brought down because we didn't fill the tank."
The pilot simply grinned in response before relaying the orders to the others. A few minutes later they were off.
—-
As the three ships lifted off and flew north. Leonardo Lionheart watched from his office window, feeling relief that the team was now gone. He did appreciate them for helping to get some of the criminals off the streets during their stay but he had other things to worry about.
"I must say, they were rather quick to leave. Couldn't even be bothered to have a cup of tea with you on their last day here." A rather posh and slightly arrogant and condescending man spoke from the guest chair on the other side of the Headmasters desk. There was the light clattering of porcelain making contact with the wooden surface thanks to the now empty cup on its own saucer that was sat down next to the ornate teapot. "Still, it would have been awkward if they found me here. I would have needed to call in some 'help'."
Leonardo had met the 'help' he was referring to once before and he wished to never do so again unless the man was in a VERY secure cell with restraints. He hated that mad cackling and that was the nicest part of the man anyone could say about him.
—-
Speaking of which, a certain man was wandering the countryside of Mistral territory. He had left a trail of bodies behind him, from one town to another and places in between and far from civilization. "A dead man tells no tales, they say." He would cackle after killing the various Huntsmen and Huntresses. Even a few of them were older students of Haven who had 'gotten in his way'.
He had his orders from His Queen, to find the Silver-eyed girl and bring her to His Queen. Anyone else around her, She didn't care and he could do as he pleased with them.
Along the way, he had a secondary quest to remove the Huntsmen of Mistral. He could collect information to help him hunt his primary prey while relishing in the kills. With every person he killed, His Queen's goals were that much closer to being fulfilled.
There was a reason he named his weapons, The Queen's Servants. And he was all too happy to be Her greatest servant himself, to do the dirty work that some of his colleagues would often refuse to do. Perhaps that is part of the reason he had gotten along so well with the young assassin that Cinder had recruited. The boy may be apathetic to serving His Queen but he followed Her orders to kill without hesitation, usually with a smirk of satisfaction.
Something he could look forward to when he returned to the castle with the girl in tow; fulfill His Queen's desire, swap killing stories with the Black child, and humiliate Cinder by being more successful than she with a mission by Their Queen.
And now, he was entering a tavern that was closed for the night, a young woman scrubbing the floors looking up at him from where she kneeled.
"I'm sorry, but we're closed. You can come back tomorrow when we open at noon."
"Oh, my apologies." He replies in an overly dramatic manner, complete with a deep bow. But then he raised his head and his grin turned from polite to sadistic. "But I do need some questions answered. Let's make this quick!"
With that said, he lunged at her fast enough that he cut off her scream of fright. The cleaning bucket and brush were kicked away in the brief struggle. Much more than a bucket would be needed to clean the next time someone entered the establishment later that morning.
AN: Things will be heating up in the next chapter, so expect some big fights. Also, art of the graffiti has been made and posted on my DA page. And for those who didn't happen to notice in chapter 63, I used the lyrics of BMBLB for Blake and Sun's date. I find that the lyrics match them very, very well and couldn't pass up the opportunity to use that.
Until next time, reviews are welcome.