Sorry for the wait and all that, life happens and whether you believe it or not, I totally forgot that I was a writer. It's not until I think to myself "I should write about that" that I remember I've got something ongoing already. Fancy that.
Anyways, see you at the bottom!
When Adam woke up, it was to a throbbing headache and to a very damp and very warm sensation. Aside from the sweat that covered him— likely from a night of drinking far heavier than he had done in years— he also had another body draped over him.
Draped being a very generous term for sprawled unconscious across his torso. They were also drooling on his chest, so that explained away both the damp and warm feelings. He nudged the ribs of the blonde champion on top of him, wheezing when Jaune rolled over and all of his weight squeezed the air from his body.
"Jaune...! Air...! You... Heavy... Bastard...!" Adam choked out as he slammed his fist against the flat of his back.
Jaune grumbled and rose slightly, enough to drag his head up like a zombie and gaze blearily at him.
"Mom?" he asked with a slur.
"No, the queen of Vacuo," Adam groaned, once again able to breathe and attempting to shove the still armored man off of him. He looked around the room and noted that it was a small room one would stay in on a long flight. When had they boarded an airship though?
"Adam...? What are we— urgh!" Jaune suddenly halted, his eyes wide and skin growing pale and clammy. Recognizing what was coming, Adam looked around in a panic before finding a small waste bin beside the bed.
Hurriedly, he pulled it closer and kicked Jaune off of him. Whether it was the kick, the sudden motion, or that he'd just run out of willpower, Jaune grabbed the bin and heaved into it. Adam winced, the sound violent and the smell awful.
After a few minutes of making sure his friend would live, he found a mini fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Turning around, Jaune was practically cuddling the trash can as his eyes clenched shut.
"Okay..." Jaune mumbled, blinking his eyes open slowly when Adam tapped his shoulder with the bottle, "I'm never drinking again..."
"Heard that before," Adam rolled his eyes, "drink. You need to hydrate after all that."
Jaune accepted the water gratefully, if not irritable, gulping down the water and retching immediately afterwards.
"Brothers above, why does the water taste like paint!?" he spat it out.
Adam was about to say that was the work of the hangover, but Jaune was already drinking again. He shrugged, everyone had their ways, Jaune would just have to find his.
Letting him know that he was taking a look around, Adam stepped from the room, rubbing his head as he nursed his own hangover. Unlike Jaune, he knew what would work for him. Whatever ship they were on, it was sizable, but he'd never known any of these kinds of aircrafts to go to Menagerie. Boats were really the only official way.
His wandering had taken him to the cockpit, and stepping inside revealed none other than Roman, basically asleep at the wheel but still somehow piloting without issue.
"You're up," a voice from the other seat stated. Adam turned to Mercury, who was leaning as deep into the chair as he could.
"How the hell did we get here?" Adam asked, cutting right to the chase. Mercury snorted and waved an arm at Roman.
"Would you believe me if I said we asked really nicely?" he smirked. Adam raised an eyebrow.
"I'd sooner believe that you bought the whole damn thing before any of you would even say please," Adam shot back. The assassin shrugged, not denying the claim and lazily waving a hand at him.
"Yeah well, stealing this thing was easy. Not that I even had to do much. Roman did most of it from what little I can remember before we hopped on, then he hit a few buttons, pulled a few levers, and flicked a few switches and the next thing I know he's got his eyes closed and we're flying."
Somehow knowing all that information actually made him feel even less safe with Roman currently asleep at the wheel. If it weren't for the fact that there weren't any observable issues, Adam would've found the nearest emergency exit and hurled himself and Jaune out.
"And the other two?" he asked instead. Mercury jerked a thumb back towards the door he'd entered from.
"Little gremlin was still out cold so we dropped her on the floor and covered her with a blanket. Emerald took the bed which left me with my throne here," he waved a hand sardonically at the chair he was reclined in.
"How the hell did Jaune and I end up in the other room?" he asked, dreading the answer with the way things had been going.
"You just crawled into bed and passed out, but Blondie spent ten minutes trying to figure out how the mini fridge worked before cuddling up with you and nodding off," Mercury explained.
"And you remember all of this how? I thought you were as far gone as the rest of us. And how aren't you hungover?" he asked.
"Like I said, I only remember what happened after we got on board and before we left the bar. For all I know we robbed a bank before we ended up here," Mercury grinned, "and also I was hungover, but I woke up earlier so it's gone away already." Adam just shook his head and sent a sideways look to their sleeping pilot.
"And how exactly do we know we're heading to Menagerie with him at the helm?" Adam winced as he watched Roman's feet— which were kicked up to rest on the controls— move idly.
"No clue," Mercury shrugged, "but we haven't crashed and there's ocean below us so I assume we're heading to an island."
That was hardly a valid reason but Adam could feel his brain cells rotting the longer this conversation went on so he shook his head with a grumble. Instead he asked one last question.
"Is there a coffee machine on this thing?"
Mercury tilted his head before shrugging and pointed back at the door.
"Dunno. Saw a little kitchenette down the hall and to the left after we dumped the little devil and Emerald in their room. Didn't really stop to familiarize myself with the place, so check there?"
Adam nodded and left, filling the directions he was given and finding the rather small kitchen space. Thankfully, there was a coffee pot, and Adam went to work. When he finally had a small mug, he took a sip. He wasn't a coffee drinker by any means, but he recalled Yang getting on his back when he told her he took his black.
She'd called him a degenerate, he'd called her a child. He smirked. Funny to think he'd come to miss those little moments. It only made it feel all the more pressing to finish this up quickly.
As if guided by the smell, arguably the worst person on board rounded the corner, her hair a complete mess, her clothes even more so, and her face screaming of her irritability.
Neo trudged right up to him, looked at the pot of coffee, then him, before pointing, much like a child would at something they wanted.
"Give me coffee," she demanded. He scowled.
"What's the magic word?" he asked rhetorically, sarcasm leaking from his every pore.
"Now," she groused.
He huffed but poured her a mug, pushing it her way so she could fix it to her liking. He could feel his teeth crumble away at the amount of sugar she added, and don't even get him started in the cream. She may as well have been drinking a cup of sweet milk with how much she added.
Still, he remained silent, knowing her type well enough. Anything was enough to get her started, and he was fully content with saying nothing to her.
"This coffee tastes like shit."
And yet she still found a way to complain.
"Mm," he grumbled shortly.
"I mean really, am I drinking someone's discharge right now? I've been in brothels with better taste than this!"
"Mmm," he replied.
"Not to mention the sugar and cream is cheap too. Leave it to the Mistrali to fuck up something as simple as coffee. I could traumatize a child with how bad this tastes!"
"Mmmm," Adam tapped the side of his mug impatiently.
Neo continued to talk as if Adam was actually a part of the conversation. Any time he thought she would finish, she'd somehow come up with some other vulgarity to spit. It was getting to the point that Adam wondered if she'd even notice if he left.
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
Adam raised an eyebrow when Neo started snickering. That shout was unmistakably Emerald, and if Neo was laughing then it probably meant she had something to do with the outburst.
"Oh man, that's great! I was hoping she'd freak out!" Neo held herself in mirth. Adam didn't respond, instead downing the rest of his coffee, ignoring the burning sensation.
"Aren't ya gonna ask what I did?" Neo prodded, leaning far too close into his personal space.
"No."
"C'moooooon, dontcha wanna know a little bit?"
"No."
"Okay but you can't help but admit you're curious, right?"
Adam simply leveled a flat glare at her and she blew a raspberry.
"Fine spoiled sport, be that way. Wait until you see what I did to Minty as payback for dumping me on the floor while she took the bed," she grumbled.
Shortly after her outburst, Emerald rounded the corner looking furious. She also had no arms, Adam noted morbidly, but considering they had been prosthetics last he'd checked, that wasn't as horrific as one would think.
"You!" Emerald glared at Neo. He was sure she would've pointed but... Well, the aforementioned lack of arms made that difficult.
"Me!" Neo threw her arms wide and cocked her hip out to the side with a flourish.
"Where did you put my arms, you little freak!?" Emerald snarled, stomping right up to the smaller girl and pressing her face to Neo's. Neo, for her part, didn't even flinch.
"It's a secret," she said demurely, much like a shy schoolgirl, "you'll have to take me out if you wanna know the answer..."
"Oh, I'll take you out alright— when I toss your tiny ass off this damn ship!"
"So mean! And here I thought we were gonna be gal pals! After all, we're surrounded by all these men!" Neo breathed out the last word seductively, draping herself on Adam's shoulder and running a hand down his chest.
"Let go or I will dump this pot of coffee on you," he said without missing a beat. Somehow even the scalding hot coffee would still be colder than this girl's libido.
"Son of a bitch, you really are no fun, you know that?" Neo scoffed, slinking off of him and crossing her arms.
"And you really are a pain in the ass," Adam grunted, turning and walking away. He ignored the ensuing argument. Argument was generous, actually, it was just Emerald shouting and Neo making fun of her.
Not wanting to be a part of that in any way, Adam made his way back to the room he'd awoke in. Jaune was now upright, albeit looking haggard and exhausted. He at least looked slightly more presentable than he did when he was praying to the trash bin gods.
"Good to see you back in the land of the living," Adam sniped. Jaune grunted with a dead look on his face.
"Hush," his voice was raspy and irritated, "give me death."
"I don't think your team would appreciate that," Adam looked around the room for his stuff. He found his small bag and weapon slung haphazardly in the corner. Picking up his sword he started doing routine maintenance to pass the time.
Jaune seemed content to let the silence hang. Adam felt for him, but he also wasn't the one who had suggested they started a drinking contest, nor had he told the blonde to go so hard into it. He really only had himself to blame.
This atmosphere continued for some time, with Adam or Jaune occasionally walking around the aircraft to stretch their legs. During one such walk and visit to the cockpit, he had found Roman now awake and lazily reading a magazine he'd found somewhere.
Good to know that whether he was asleep or awake, he wouldn't be paying attention to actually piloting. Adam tried to forget that the ship was currently being flown by someone who wasn't even looking out the window.
Finally, the intercom built into the ship crackled and Mercury's voice could be heard.
"Attention all jackasses, we have spotted land!"
Looking out the window in their room, Adam saw the island nation of Menagerie. He took it in, not having seen it from above like this in a long time. Any and all aircrafts on the island never really took the time to do a sweep of the lands, so seeing it in its entirety was something to behold.
"So that's the place, huh?" Jaune too looked from the window, admiring the view, "It looks like a real paradise from up here if you ignore the desert. Will it match once we land?"
"In terms of sights? Sure," Adam shrugged, "But make no mistake, it's not like the people there wanted to be relegated to an island away from the rest of the world. The faunus there are happy, but that doesn't mean they're without regrets."
Jaune hummed in acknowledgement, taking in the island all over again.
"Were you born there?" he asked. Adam shook his head.
"Atlas," he ignored Jaune's snort, "but you can say... My real family was here."
"The other faunus?" Jaune mused. Adam hummed, but it didn't sound like he was agreeing.
"Something like that," he replied. The intercom came to life again.
"Buckle up buttercups! We're going in!"
Adam sighed.
Time to go home.
The island was a sight to behold. Mostly because they'd landed in the desert instead of in the airfield.
"Remind me why we have to hike through all this instead of just landing near civilization?" Mercury grunted as he hopped over a large rock. Adam rolled his eyes, holding a hand up to shade his face so as to see better.
"Because if a group of humans showed up and landed in the only airfield on the island— which happens to be owned by the White Fang, by the way— completely unannounced, we'd be in trouble. At least this way we can avoid most of the trouble."
That earned a series of huffs from the group, but no more questions at least.
On they trekked through the barren desert of Menagerie. The terrain was terrible, unsuitable for living, and the amount of Grimm made it even less so. That anyone would call the island of Menagerie a gift for the faunus winning the war was like saying tht dying in a fire was temperate.
When the first few palm trees peaked over the next dune Adam sighed.
"We're here," he announced dully, halting when he reached the top of the mound. He looked down, taking in the settlement before him.
It was just as it had been when he left. Nothing looked different, no major changes to infrastructure, no mass amounts of vegetation, no buildings taller than the large house that stood central to the town. Kuo Kuana matched his memory perfectly.
Besides him, Jaune stepped up and hummed. Mercury let out a low whistle and took the place in.
"It's pretty dense, huh?" the assassin noted. Adam grunted.
"Do you expect them to live back there?" he jerked a thumb behind them, from the way they'd come. Mercury pulled a face and kept quiet afterwards.
"Still, it's beautiful in its own way," Jaune added, smiling as he observed where the ocean and town combined.
"Oh yeah, Mama's gonna get her beach on," Neo rubbed her hands together conspiratorially, "Faunusland, here I come!"
"I can almost guarantee you'll be ejected from the place if you call it that in front of any of the locals," Emerald sent the short girl a glare from the side. Evidently, she was still upset about the arm thing.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll try and play nice for a little while," Neo rolled her eyes, and it was practically a full body motion from her, "Doesn't mean I'm not gonna look into real estate here. Think they've got any condos?"
"Does it look like they do?" Emerald hissed back.
Roman shrugged, waving a hand at the beach. Neo nodded in response.
"He's right, who needs a condo when you have a shot at beach front property! I can see a bright and happy future now..." she closed her eyes dreamily. Adam simply started walking again, eager to ditch the two crooks the moment he could.
Sure he'd be damning the town he'd been raised in, but that was a small price to pay for his sanity.
Right before they hit the road leading into the city, Adam stopped again and rounded on his entourage.
"None of you are faunus, and yes, before anyone even makes the comment, they will be able to tell," he started, glaring when Neo's hand slowly went up and then down with his words, "Humans aren't banned from Kuo Kuana, but you're going to draw attention, especially from the older, more bitter faunus. The best thing you can do is act like it's any other town. No acting like tourists or looking at the place like it's an alien world. They're just people trying to live their lives."
Jaune nodded, ever the respectful one and once again showed Adam that the blonde was here to help him. Mercury shrugged but didn't argue and Emerald shot him a lazy thumbs up. Roman, for his part, just sighed and waved his hand in an 'it is how it is' motion.
Neo groaned.
"Why you gotta kill my mood?" she whined.
"Because your mood will be what gets us killed," Adam huffed. She went on under her breath about him being no fun and so on, so he decided to ignore her and turn his attention back before him.
"Here we go then..." he grimaced, finally climbing down the dune.
Approaching the entrance, there was no real line of defense. While all the kingdoms had walls, even some settlements as well, Kuo Kuana seemed to be open. It felt wrong, but if what Adam said was true, the White Fang basically kept the place safe alongside the city guard.
There were still guards stationed around the perimeter of the town, but they all looked fairly bored with their jobs. At least until their group stood before them. When they came within a few meters, the two guards crossed their spears to bar them entry.
"Halt, what's a group of humans doing out in the desert?" One guard, a man with ram horns, asked.
"Yes and what business do you have here?" another asked, this one a woman with a thick, scaly tail drifting slowly back and forth behind her.
Adam stepped forward, a reason already on hand.
"We—"
"Holy shit, Adam!?" the man suddenly dropped the tough guard act, his spear even clattering to the ground in surprise.
"Oh my God, Adam, it really is you!" the woman brushed the hair from her face, "It's been so long!"
Adam blinked. Somehow, in all his worrying about being back, it never crossed his mind that people here would actually remember him, let alone so fondly. Obviously he'd remembered the people he'd grown up with, but it'd been a few years since he's actually been living in Menagerie, and he really was expecting more cold shoulders than anything.
"Oh," he was caught a little off kilter with this, "uh, hey Shetland, Nile," he nodded to both, "it's been... A while."
"No kidding!" the man, now known as Shetland, held a hand to his head, "Didn't know when we'd see you again!"
"Shet's not wrong, we were pretty sure you'd left the island for good," the woman, Nile, agreed, "but it's amazing to see you back. The chief's gonna be stoked!"
Adam paled and his face fell. It was obvious too by the way the two guards suddenly coughed and awkwardly stammered out apologies.
"Oh, uh, right, ehehe..." Nile winced, "uh, my bad."
"Nice going, dude," Shetland chastised.
"I forgot okay!?" Nile whisper shouted back.
As the two argued, Mercury cleared his throat to get Adam's attention.
"So, uh, what's your deal with the chief then, eh?" he asked, brow raised.
"It's... Complicated. We didn't leave off on the best of terms," Adam grunted.
"Who do you leave on good terms with?" Neo scoffed. He sent her a withering look but she just flipped him off.
The two guards were still arguing, but due to having literally anything better to do than stand here and listen to them, Adam cleared his throat loudly. They both seemed to remember what they were doing and snapped back to their group.
"Sorry!" both stammered.
"Can we enter or not?" he rubbed his temples.
"Oh, of course," Shetland waved his hand inwards towards the town, "glad to have you back!"
"Yeah..." Adam nodded his thanks as they all walked through and stepped onto the main street of Kuo Kuana, "...good to be back."
Kuo Kuana was beautiful. It really did look like a brochure. Despite Adam having told all of them that this wasn't nearly as good a deal as it looked, his assembled freedom fighters couldn't help but admire the environment around them.
"The White Fang has a strong presence here. We won't just be able to walk in guns blazing and expect no repercussions. We'll need to do this carefully if we want to avoid unnecessary losses," Adam explained as they walked down the busy road.
Peddlers hawking their wares dotted the whole thing, and that wasn't a racist remark just because one of the merchants was a hawk faunus. The people around them all watched their group like hawks— okay that one was a little racist.
The point being, they were definitely the focus of the local population right now.
"Uh, Adam?" Jaune whispered, "I think people are staring."
"You think?" Emerald let her gaze wander to a group of faunus children who were staring at them with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
"This may be problematic," Adam winced as he realized that people were indeed paying very close attention to them.
"Should we wear disguises?" Mercury asked. Adam shook his head.
"No. I'm sure that once the initial shock wears off, all the attention on you will go away—"
"HEY EVERYONE! ADAM'S BACK!"
A stampede of faunus rushed their group, and after just a few seconds, they cleared. They all shared confused looks before shrugging.
"Well, I guess that solved itself, right Adam?" Jaune laughed, turning back to where he'd been standing.
Only to find him missing.
"Adam?" he looked around.
A tap on his arm had him turning to Roman, who in turn pointed ahead of them, to where the mob of faunus had run off.
And held above the crowd's heads was Adam, who looked like he was trying incredibly hard not to kill anyone.
"Oh," Jaune hummed, "well that's unfortunate."
"Shouldn't we... Go after him?" Mercury asked the champion. He figured it was his friend after all.
"Yeah it's just..." Jaune scratched his head as he watched the crowd get further and further away, "how are we gonna get him back?"
Neo raised a finger.
"Without hurting anyone."
Neo put her finger down.
"Well you can figure that out," Mercury gave him a thump on the shoulder, "I'll go find us a place to crash for the night."
Emerald sent him a sympathetic look but followed Mercury as well. Roman and Neo literally shattered into glass, leaving Jaune on his own.
"Darn," he huffed to himself, jogging after his kidnapped friend.
Adam wasn't having a good time. It wasn't because he'd been carried off by the people of Kuo Kuana against his will, nor was it because said people were currently clamoring for his attention.
It was probably because, with this much attention, they were bound to end up attracting—
"Adam?"
"Shit," he swore under his breath.
He turned very slowly, and the crowd parted as if to give the person who had said his name his full attention.
Standing there was a woman, older than him and staring with wide, amber eyes. Her skin was like chocolate and along her arms were stripes that matched the tiger ears atop her head. Her hair was wild like the jungle and her features were sharp, even through her surprise. The robes she wore fit the island environment well.
"Adam... Is it really you?" she asked, stepping forward only a little.
He sighed and turned to regard her fully. He stared down into her eyes, remembering a time when he'd had to look up instead.
"Hello, Sienna," he greeted, "it's been... A long time."
She said nothing. Instead she ran forth and embraced him. His arms were awkwardly held to his sides, but after a moment he deflated and returned the hug.
The moment was a tender one, and even the crowd seemed warmed at the scene.
"Adam, I'm here to rescue you!"
And then it was ruined when Jaune barreled in, armor shining and shield glinting in the sunlight.
Everyone stared in shock and Jaune's eyes darted back and forth at the silence.
"Was this a bad time?"
Adam really wasn't having a good time.
Jaune sat awkwardly on the floor at one end of the short table. There was a cup of tea in his hands that he was currently hiding behind despite it being far too hot to drink right now.
"I apologize for his behavior," Adam said with closed eyes for the fourth time.
"Really, Adam, it's not a problem," Sienna waved it off.
Adam glared at him and Jaune cleared his throat. Talk about being put on the spot.
"No, no, I didn't realize you two were having a moment," Jaune bowed his head, "really, I was just trying to help, I hadn't realized that there wasn't actually anything wrong."
"It's fine," she seemed exasperated at this point, "please, can we drop it?"
They both nodded and she sighed in relief. She turned a sharp eye on Adam.
"Not even one hour back and you're already a pain..." she mused. Adam grit his teeth.
"I assure you, the pain is mutual," Adam replied. She barked a laugh.
"You're as much a ray of sunshine as ever, I see," Sienna shook her head, "to think you used to be such a happy boy."
Jaune sputtered into his tea. Partly because he'd burned himself but also because that line had caught him off guard.
"Uh, I'm sorry, I realize this may seem rude, but I don't think anyone told me how you knew Adam," Jaune looked between them.
Sienna sent an unimpressed look at Adam, who wilted and looked anywhere else.
"Really?" she crossed her arms.
Adam said nothing, instead finding his tea very interesting. She rolled her eyes, looking at Jaune.
"I am Sienna Khan, chief of Menagerie," she introduced.
"Jaune Arc," he nodded, "so was Adam one of your guards?"
"No," Sienna casually sipped her tea before continuing, "I raised Adam since he was a young boy."
Once again Jaune sputtered, this time without burning himself but now more shocked than anything.
"You're his mother!?" Jaune pointed at Adam, whose ears were very red at the moment.
"He used to call me that, yes," she sighed melodramatically, "but I suppose he's grown out of that..."
Jaune looked back and forth with a slack jaw. Adam scowled at him.
"What?" he spat.
"You said your relationship with the chief was complicated!" he accused.
"Oh you did, did you?" Sienna glared. Adam glared too, at Jaune, who still was waiting for an answer.
"It is complicated," he turned his head away, "as in familially."
Jaune just continued to gawk, ignoring Adam's snarl his way.
"Really now Adam," Sienna shook her head, "are you that ashamed of me?"
"Would it be wrong if I said yes?" Adam grumbled.
"For shame," Sienna tutted, "to think I used to hold your hand when we walked around town."
"I'd have chewed it off if I could," Adam said to the side, earning a snort from her.
"You really aren't any different from before you left," Sienna spoke as if reminiscing. Adam shook his head.
"No," he sighed, "but at the very least I'm here to make up for the problems I caused."
Sienna just stared at him for a bit. Jaune didn't know if they were having a moment again or not, so he wisely stayed silent.
"What happened, Adam?" she finally asked.
Adam stared at his hands for a moment before looking up and meeting her eyes.
"Well I think you'll appreciate the start of the story," he let a very tiny smile twitch on his lips.
"Oh?" she leaned forward, "do tell."
"It started with me ditching Blake on a train."
Sienna threw her hands in the air and cheered.
"Maybe there really is a god out there somewhere!" she called, looking upwards.
From there Adam explained what he'd been doing. How he'd been trying to change things his own way. When he finally got to the part where the White Fang were involved, he slowed down.
"What... Has the Fang been doing on the island?" he asked. She hummed.
"They certainly have been more pushy lately, but I can't say that they've done anything terrible... Why?" she narrowed her eyes. He sighed.
He told her about everything that had happened in Vale. About the stolen dust and Atlas property and about the disaster they had caused before they'd been forced to flee.
"What!?" Sienna hissed, "that's what those bastards have been doing all this time!?"
Jaune wasn't quite ready for the drastic shift in Sienna's personality. She'd seemed snarky but otherwise inviting before, but now her eyes were slitted and she looked like a predator ready to pounce with the way her hair was sticking up.
"It's true," Adam looked his way, "Jaune can attest as well."
Jaune nodded. It wasn't like anything Adam had said was wrong after all.
"I was there for all of it," Jaune added, "Vale was left in shambles."
Sienna cursed up a storm, even going as far as to stand up and start pacing around. She occasionally stopped and rubbed the bridge of her nose before continuing her tiff. Suddenly, many of Adam's mannerisms felt like they made sense. Of course, when Jaune sent that knowing look his way, Adam growled at him, which really only further proved his point.
"Sienna," Adam interrupted her moment, her fierce look turning in him before it melted just as quickly.
"I'm sorry," she shook her head, "I lost my composure there. That wasn't what I was expecting to hear."
"How could it have been?" Adam sighed. He sent Jaune a look, one that the champion hasn't seen from Adam before: pleading.
Jaune took the cue. He stood and quietly made his way from the room. The door slid shut behind him and Adam turned his full attention back to Sienna.
The two stayed in silence. They hadn't really talked at all since they'd reunited on the streets, and it was more obvious now than it had been before.
Adam tried to find the words to say. He had been prepared to try and keep himself scarce so that this meeting didn't have to happen, but now that it was, he found himself holding back so much that he wanted to say.
"Sienna... I..." he tried to start, but it died on his tongue. She regarded him with the same patience she had since she'd picked him up in Atlas. When he was just a cold and destitute orphan trying to survive in a land that wanted him dead.
Back then she'd told him she had a place where he'd never be cold again. Menagerie never saw winter, after all.
What could he say? That he'd failed as a friend so many times now and everyone around him left worse than when he arrived? That he wasn't able to do what he'd left to do, change the world like he'd screamed at her that he would? He'd been so volatile to her right before he'd left her, had said that he would embody the fighting spirit that she had lost.
What else could he say other than:
"I'm sorry," he bowed his head low, face tight and incapable of meeting her eyes, "You were right."
Right that he was being shortsighted, that he was thinking too much with his heart and not enough with his mind. That Blake wasn't the same girl he'd once been infatuated with. That he didn't need to do anything alone.
"Adam," her voice was soft and low, "have you grown?"
He was standing straight again in an instant, staring at her incredulously. What had she just asked? He was expecting her to say 'I told you so' or scoff that all he could do was apologize.
"What?" he let his confusion be bare on his face.
"Have you grown?" she asked again, offering him nothing but a raised eyebrow.
"I... How does..." he shook his head. Of course he hadn't grown. Here he was, right back where he started and cleaning up old messes. He hadn't grown a bit, unless you counted realizing that he was a danger to his loved ones.
"You don't think so," she answered for him, "but I know better. You're a different person than the one who walked out those doors years ago."
Was he? It didn't feel like it.
"It may be hard to see from within," she continued as if responding to his thoughts, "but take it from someone who watched you grow up, you've changed Adam. For the better."
"But how?" he asked, his voice weak, "It feels like I fail at every turn! What is it you're seeing!?"
"It's not about whether you fail or succeed," she shook her head and approached him, gingerly cupping his face, "everything that you told me just now? The things you've been doing are things the old you wouldn't have ever thought of."
Was it really? Despite being such a small span of his life, it felt like he couldn't remember a time when he was apart from the family he'd found at Beacon.
"You've touched people's lives, and you've let them into your world. That's growth, Adam," she smiled warmly.
"But you were right about the Fang! About... About Blake," he felt small again, like he was once more a boy standing before his mother after breaking a window or chasing birds.
"Hush," she flicked one of his horns and he winced, "this isn't about right and wrong. Do you know where you're going now?"
"I need to find Blake and make things right," he claimed. She frowned and rolled her eyes.
"Not what you're doing," she chastised, "not to mention that such a thing doesn't surprise me in the least. I meant, where can you see yourself after this?"
Where? Once upon a time the only thing he could see in his future was a better world, or as close as he could hope at least. He'd been fairly directionless. Now though? The answer came out easily, and without him even realizing he'd said it.
"With my friends. My... My family," he mumbled.
"So you know where you're going," Sienna stepped back, but held one of his hands in both of hers, "and you're clearly willing to fight to get there alongside others. That's a far cry from who you were before, right?"
It was. She was right, as he was remembering she normally was.
"You deserve good things, Adam," she held a hand to his chest, "and I know that within you're battling a giant, but you are more than a fighting spirit."
He couldn't help it anymore. He practically fell into her arms, no sounds coming from him, but his eyes closed and lips pursed. Sienna rubbed a gentle circle on his back.
"I am always behind you. It doesn't matter how seasoned of a warrior you become, you'll always be my boy," she assured.
Again he said nothing, simply holding the woman who had raised him and believed in him for so long now. It was a foreign feeling, one he hadn't experienced in quite some time. It was so unlike the cold walls he'd been building around him.
It was a wonderful feeling.
"So you're saying the Fang has been completely silent lately?" Jaune asked, having come back in after Adam told him it was clear. Sienna sighed but nodded.
"I can't say that I'm as involved with them as I once was, but even so, I've barely seen any of the normal members around. For a while they were pushier than ever, but recently they all but vanished. I thought it was strange before, but now? There's no doubt they've gone to ground following their attack in Vale," Sienna explained.
That was troublesome. The Fang being present at least insinuated that the people here didn't know anything about what had happened in Vale. That none of the Fang was present at all, though? That left a lot to be desired. Were they planning another attack of that scale?
"Nobody?" Jaune asked again, "None at all? Not even a recruiter or something?"
"Well," Sienna grew an irritated look, "there are two members that haven't stopped showing their faces, but I almost wished they did."
"Who?" Adam asked. He was familiar with many of the Menagerie members of the Fang.
Sienna sent him a pained look. One that said she really didn't want to say. Adam blinked, then his eyes widened, then he groaned. Jaune regarded the exchange with confusion.
"I feel like I'm missing something... Again," Jaune watched as Sienna held her head and Adam rubbed his face.
"Please tell me it isn't who I think it is," Adam practically begged.
"You know I don't like lying to you," Sienna shot back.
There was a knock at the front door.
"Chieftain Khan!? Are the rumors true!? Has he truly returned to us!?" what sounded like a pair of voices shouted in unison.
"No..." Adam despaired.
"I'm afraid so," Sienna waved a guard to let the guests in.
"Do you have to let them in?" Adam asked, wallowing in place.
"They'll have more answers than I," Sienna shrugged, "you know as well as I do that they're practically harmless."
Jaune once again felt like he was really left out of the loop here. He'd soon get some answers when the doors opened and two nearly identical looking men hurried in, looking around.
When their eyes landed on Adam, they widened before both ran and fell into a deep bow before him. Adam looked like he wanted to die. The two men looked like they would die for him.
"Brother Adam!" one gasped, the ears on his head twitching erratically, "You're really back!"
"And you're as magnificent as when you left!" the other added, his tail swishing back and forth quickly.
Adam let out a long-suffering snarl before he looked down at the two men.
"Fennec. Corsac. You're both still... Alive," he 'greeted' through gritted teeth.
"Of course we are!" Fennec stood, eagerly standing a little too far into Adam's personal space. He kept trying to fuss with his hair but Adam slapped his hands away each time, looking more murderous the longer he tried.
"We wouldn't dare die without your saying so!" Corsac went about picking lint off of Adam's shirt unprompted, an effort that continued even when Adam stepped away from him. Jaune stared at the two before meeting Adam's eyes and tilting his head.
"Who are the two..." Jaune struggled to find a polite word so he settled on the best one he could think up, "... Gimps?"
"THEY ARE NOT GIMPS!" Adam roared in revulsion.
"For you, Adam, we would be—" the two were silenced when Adam rounded on them.
"Do not finish that sentence!" he snarled. Sienna stepped in and answered Jaune's question.
"This is Fennec and Corsac Albain, they are what basically amounts to the PR and recruiting campaign for the White Fang here on Menagerie."
The two turned to Jaune, where their excitement diminished nigh instantaneously.
"What is a human doing on the island?" Fennec asked, leering at him.
"You have some nerve showing your face here, trash," Corsac added.
"He's with me, and a good friend," Adam grunted. Once more, their faces changed drastically. This time back to their delighted expressions.
"Welcome, welcome! You are like family here!" Fennec shook Jaune's hand eagerly.
"It is a pleasure to have you here! Make yourself at home, brother!" Corsac shook his other hand.
Jaune looked like someone had willingly stripped down naked in public right in front of him and then confessed their undying love for him. That actually had happened to him before, being famous was a curse. But still, the mood shift gave him whiplash.
Fennec and Corsac, as Jaune learned in the ensuing discussion, were deeply enamored with Adam to a degree that made even the term cultish feel too generous. They worshipped the ground he walked on, and if Jaune was completely blind he'd still be able to see that they hung off his every word. Well, almost every word. They didn't seem to absorb any form of 'go away' or 'leave me alone' no matter how hard Adam tried. Nonetheless they retold the brothers about the incident in Vale.
"What you are telling us does seem to be in line with what we've heard from the Vale sect lately," Corsac mused.
"And what would that be?" Sienna glared.
"That they bombed Vale!" Fennec answered proudly, as if they hadn't already known that fact.
"They just said that?" Jaune raised a brow. The brothers nodded in sync.
"Verbatim, as a matter of fact," Corsac added.
Well this conversation had gone nowhere. Other than the fact that they now knew the Fang absolutely didn't care about attacking Vale, they didn't get anything new out of the brothers.
"They also said they were planning another attack," Fennec said offhandedly as if it wasn't important.
"Why didn't you lead with that!?" Adam practically roared. The brothers immediately dropped to their knees, heads bowed to the floor.
"We apologize Adam!" Fennec shouted into the matted floor.
"We shall gut ourselves before you!" Corsac retrieved a knife from his hip and held it to his stomach. Adam slapped it out of his hands.
"You can do whatever you want to yourselves after you tell us what the Fang is planning," he growled.
"Another attack, this one on Vacuo!" Corsac answered hurriedly, Fennec nodding with fervor.
"They've struck Vale, it served to show the world that we're to be revered!" Fennec claimed, "but now people are on edge..."
"And since nobody keeps an eye on Vacuo, it's the perfect target," Sienna hummed discontentedly.
It was an unfortunate fact that Vacuo just wasn't... important enough, for lack of better terms. A vast desert with a high crime rate and fairly low exports. The income was largely tourism, retirement, or old money being repossessed. Their having an academy barely meant anything, only that they were a civilization that offered more security than a settlement. Some walls were better than no walls.
"Why keep attacking?" Adam demanded before thinking further, "and where is the Fang getting the resources to even do this!?"
"Some time back, just after the attack on Vale, we received anonymous and very generous donations."
"Dust, money, even weapons or tools for maintenance," the brothers answered before Fennec looked directly into Adam's eyes.
"But the most impressive were official documents of the layout and city planning of Vacuo."
Adam and Sienna both swore. Jaune sucked in a breath and bit his cheek. That was really bad. That also left about three or four people as the possible 'anonymous' donor that the Fang had just acquired.
"And again I ask why?" Jaune pushed through the shock.
"They want another war," Sienna filled in the gaps. The brothers both nodded.
"The White Fang wishes for a... redo, of sorts, of the Great War," Corsac confirmed. Fennec clenched a fist tightly, raising it to the sky.
"But this time, they will tear down the very kingdoms themselves, and sculpt this world into one that is perfect for the faunus!"
Okay so this had just evolved from 'avenge Vale, friends, and family' to 'stop another world war from breaking out and the genocide of the human race and all we hold dear.'
Adam resisted the urge to punch a hole through the floor. Rather he gestured for Jaune to raise his shield, and then punched that instead. He shook his hand to make sure he hadn't just broken it before he finally composed himself.
"We need to move soon then," he looked to Jaune, who nodded resolutely. Adam turned to Sienna, who was clearly deep in thought. She caught his eye however and only gave him a firm nod before continuing on whatever trail she was on in her mind.
"We shall aid you Adam!" Fennec and Corsac both proclaimed, dropping to one knee.
"Aren't you both loyal to the Fang?" Jaune asked. They shook their heads, ears flattened and tail down.
"We are loyal to Adam's cause!" Corsac held a hand to his chest.
"If Adam wills it, we shall fight and die for the sake of freedom and equality!" Fennec stated as if that wasn't exactly what the White Fang had been founded for.
If it meant they had cannon fodder and distractions, Adam would take it. Not to mention that they could offer a lot of inside info if they kept their heads down and who the hell was he kidding? The likelihood that the Albains wouldn't blow their cover immediately was the same as Whitley dying his hair green.
"We have others who are... willing enough to help," Adam didn't really consider their motley crew to be the most qualified for ending a war before it began. He'd honestly mark them down to expedite the whole process and make the damn thing all happen faster!
There was a rush of footsteps before one of the guards came running in. They all looked his way and he snapped a quick salute to Sienna.
"Chieftain Khan! We have an issue!" he looked irritated and on edge.
They all tensed. Had the Albains been followed? Had news of Adams' arrival reached other Fang members? Were they under attack?
"Speak," Sienna turned her chin up. They all prepared for the worst.
"What the hell am I looking at?" Sienna looked on the verge of snapping and Adam couldn't blame her. He let out the longest, most suffering sigh he'd managed in the last week.
"That would be our willing help," Jaune spoke in Adam's place as he continued to sigh.
Before them, it appeared that Neo had somehow managed to get Emerald to finally lose it and try to actually kill her. Seeming to forget that she was trained to kill silently, Emerald had foregone subtlety in lieu of trying to drown Neo in one of the beautiful shoals of Kuo Kuana. She was doing decently, but Neo's general lack of tact and social filter meant that she was screaming some of the most obscene things anyone watching had ever heard.
What made the situation more bizarre, perhaps, was Roman and Mercury who had set up at a small table and were taking bets and announcing the whole affair.
"Come on folks! Who's your money on?" Mercury called, a crowd of people already standing before their table, "Who will win this beachside battle? The Tiny Terror or The Mint Murderer?"
Sienna slowly turned to Adam, who did his level best not to meet her eyes.
"We're going to die trying to stop this war, aren't we?" she asked in the tone that only a mother could manage. Adam winced and watched as Neo attempted to throw sand in Emerald's eyes.
"It's a fifty-fifty."
We'll end on a humorous note. Too much serious or too much exposition and set up leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The Albain brothers were fun to write. Sometimes throughout the process I thought "I made them too crazy and willing to switch sides," but then I remember the Albains from the show were one five-minute arc away from becoming the most unreasonably crazy characters in the show next to Tyrian. So I made them a part of the Adam Fanclub and frankly, I like them better this way.
It's an Adam and Jaune chapter because they deserve my time as much as any other characters. Still working out the next story. It's got a full working concept now but I've got some kinks to work out still. By the time this story is done, I think I'll have a pretty cool story going. Stay tuned for more on that.
No more to say today. Wish I could give an idea of when the next update will be but I don't know. Sorry about that!
For now, stay happy and healthy, and have a wonderful time!
