Big Issues

AN: New chapter and it's focused on Blake as promised! Also, thanks to Nesthor5000 for the follow and fave! Not much else to say beyond I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Welcome to the Jungle

If there was one thing that Blake hated right now, it was seeing so many people injured or worse. All over the island that the White Fang palace sat on, the bodies of those hurt or killed during the fighting for control over the organization lay until they could be retrieved, one way or another.

Adam had gotten away with a sizable force from those who fought for him today, even if many of them were injured themselves. Not that Adam was in better shape himself but he had just fought five of the strongest that could be brought against him and held his ground against them all, taken down by luck.

And there was the matter of what to do with the bodies of the traitors… Blake didn't want to know or particularly care so long as she didn't have to deal with them. The surviving traitors on the other hand were being kept in the small jail that the palace had for such occasions, though it was far too small to take even half of the prisoners. Those who were the most injured were tied to their beds-literally once the handcuffs ran out- while others found themselves locked into some extra storerooms.

Sienna and her parents led the investigations over the course of the next week, getting more than a few confessions and some plea deals worked out. The next two weeks were spent on trials, many of the convicted being sentenced to the manual labor of repairing the palace and the grounds.

The repairs might sound trivial as a punishment but with the amount of fighting that had been done even before Sienna and the Belladonna family showed up, they'd be working well into the summer. And there were a few plans for building new facilities which would likely take until this time next year to finish, assuming everything went smoothly. There were some questions about having traitors access to the tools to rebuild what had been destroyed but that was before the decision was made to only allow those who regretted joining with Adam's coup.

Those who were fanatical or at least still openly supported Adam… it was easy to say that they weren't going anywhere or doing much beyond sitting in their cells.

Blake was pulled from her thoughts when Sun sat down next to her. "Not exactly what we wanted to do during your birthday month, huh?"

Her ears folded back as she hung her head. The view from the high balcony over the island was spectacular but she had gone here to be alone for a while. Yet Sun had found her. She had noticed that he'd spotted her a while ago but had gone back to work escorting a few more people to their trials.

Honestly, she had almost expected him to arrive earlier rather than waiting a few hours. Maybe it was because she hadn't moved from the balcony during that time, opting to brood in the sunlight. 'I really have gotten used to him being there for me.' She muses silently as she looks at the blonde for his comment. It was interesting that he was concerned about her birthday that had been missed; she had downplayed it at Beacon when her team had learned that it happened before school started, even if they had promised to make up for it during the break between years.

"Fat chance of that happening now." She mutters quietly.

"Hey, when we get home we can try doing something special for ya." Sun suggests with a small smile.

Amber eyes looked at him sideways and found that the young man was nearly as tired as she felt. He'd been doing a lot of work over the time they'd been on this island, usually as the primary guard escorting prisoners. There were a fair few that fought back once they were out of their cells and it was the blonde who put them down. It wasn't that he didn't have help from the loyalists but they didn't have the combat skills that Sun did.

"You really want to do that after all of this?"

"You do need to have at least one day to relax and get this out of your head." Amber eyes narrowed as the familiar plees came at her again. "Remember how bad the bags under your eyes were before the dance?"

Now she glared at him for that reminder but it softened quickly as the lessons came back to her. "Maybe we should see how long we'll be here yet." She sighs. Honestly, a day to let things go sounded wonderful, though she doubted that Sun would let her curl up somewhere with a good book and snacks for too long.

"Probably be leaving by the end of the week." The blonde informs her surprisingly quickly, making her snap her head his way to see him stretching his arms over his head, her ears picking up the pops in his spine. "What? I just finished helping with the last trial. That and Itazura was rigging up the trackers, almost done making those."

Itazura had been splitting her time with making tracking anklets for the prisoners, complete with shocking nodes, and assisting with interrogations where her way of playing with words helped to get confessions out of stubborn traitors. The rest of the loyalists were primarily playing guard over the various prisoners and their cells.

"I can't wait to get home again." Blake says as she tries to get up. Tries being the key word as her legs had fallen asleep without her noticing.

"Need a hand or two?" The monkey laughs as he extends the appendages down to her. He tried not to look but it was hard not to notice how much of the small balcony the cat's large rump covered. There was plenty of effort put into assisting her to stand, having to let her lower limbs regain proper circulation, and he held her up until she could stand on her own.

—-

"What do we have from the prisoners?" Sienna asks at the dinner table. They had returned to Menagerie, leaving Mari Belle in charge of keeping the convicts in line. Back in the Belladonna home that she was now using as a base to deal with Adam's group, she was prone to bringing the subject up often on the way back to try finding details that they may have missed. Itazura was great for keeping track of what they had so far and made sure that they all had a copy.

"Nothing new but we're also too far from the palace island for our scrolls to reach." Kali tells the tiger woman wearily tells her friend.

"Damn." Sienna clenched her fist briefly but soon forced herself to relax.

"I suppose that we'll just have to send a trusted messenger to relay the information… probably on a monthly basis." Ghira relents. It had been a week since they had returned home with Sienna and Ilia moving in for good measure.

Blake and Sun sat leaning against the wall, the former nibbling on a simple snack as they watched the back and forth of the adults. Dinner would bring the discussions and planning to an end for the day and hopefully would be ready within the hour, especially if the smells from the kitchen were any indication. Kali had asked some of her friends to help with the cooking on a rotating schedule since she was still healing from the stab wound in her stomach and the doctors kept reminding her to take things easy.

Ghira still kept his arm covered where he had been injured, it was healing slower than expected and a bit irritating, the wrapping keeping him from scratching at it too much.

Itazura stood up with her tail flicking behind her, catching the attention of the others, Ilia's eyes watching the appendage.

"Do you have something to say?" Sienna asks, her ears on alert.

"About the White Fang? No." She let out a sigh as she began to pace to work out some of her inner turmoil. "It's more about why I'm here."

That garnered everyone's attention, ears and eyes focusing on the little fox. "What do you mean by that?" Sienna's voice had gone low, a clear warning that Itazura's next words could be problematic if they weren't chosen well.

"It's that I never expected to be involved in a White Fang civil war, partially. Otherwise, I would have prepared better." Her pacing increased in speed but she continued. "And me leading Blake and Sun here? Partly from our friendship, partly as a mission to make sure they got here- even if Blake was in good hands with Sun."

Eyes flicked to the pair , causing them to blush. Sienna had some amusement, Kali was proud, and Ghira… full of warning to Sun.

"There's more, isn't there?" Ilia asks as she refused to look at Sun in case that her jealousy might become displayed on her skin.

"Yeah. The thing is, Professor Goodwitch sent me here to evaluate the conditions on Menagerie." Itazura paused to glance at her audience and found a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

With a sigh, the fox dropped back onto her cushion. "Ozpin had managed to work a few deals with the other Kingdoms."

"What kind of deals?" Ghira nearly growled as his defenses were raised.

"To see if Menagerie was ready to really advance on the global stage."

"In what way?" Kali was curious.

Itazura withdrew her scroll from her pocket and typed for a bit to access something inside before setting it down and the television turned on. "It may be best to let you hear it from Ozpin himself."

"Greetings, Ghira Belladonna. I am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy.

This may come as a bit of a surprise but by the time you will have seen this, someone will have given their approval based on the growth of your growing settlement on Menagerie. That being said, I'm sure you'll want to know what all of this is about.

I've been doing what I can to help lessen the divide between Humans and Faunus with my position, as slow as it is to change public opinion I believe that I have made progress.

However, I plan for offering the Faunus as a whole a great gift after the Vytal Festival. Though if you are seeing this recording rather than in person it would be because I was made unavailable, sorry about that.

The gift would be the construction of a Cross Continental Transmit Tower on Menagerie itself. A fifth tower in the event that any of the others are taken offline for any reason, as well as being a symbol of recognition of the importance and growth of the Faunus that call the place home.

My representative will have many of the details for the project, should you accept.

Thank you for your time."

Five Faunus sat in stunned silence by the time the video ended, nearly all of them with their mouths hanging open.

"How… how can we be sure that this isn't a joke?" Blake was the first to speak. It had been shocking to see her old Headmaster again, even if in video. The man had known her past and still let her into his school almost solely because she wanted to change herself for the better. And she couldn't be more grateful for that, especially since he treated her the same way as any other student.

"It isn't a joke, Blake. Ozpin had managed to gather supplies, Dust, and promises of qualified personnel if the offer would be accepted already. A lot of it is sitting in a warehouse on the eastern coast of Sanus right now. It's just a matter of giving the go ahead to Goodwitch and the people here to decide where to build and design."

"Wait, we get to design the tower?" Sun was excited about that prospect

"Within reason, yes. It does have to hold all of the equipment needed and be sturdy enough to stay."

"What is the catch?" Sienna asks as she laces her fingers.

"There's a few things actually, nothing too big of a problem." Itazura picks up her scroll and uses the current connection to the holographic television to display the points.

"The first would be the location of the tower itself. It should be both somewhere high and defensible for maximum coverage and safety." The screen shows a 3D map of Menagerie and highlights the tops of several mountains that divided the large island between its tropical third from the deserts that span the remaining portions.

"That seems easy enough." Sienna nods in agreement.

"And we can have it fit our architecture!" Kali was liking where this was going so far.

"Second, a combat school should be built around it. The students and teachers would be a constant guard and deterrent to those wishing to damage or destroy the tower."

"You want us to establish our own Huntsman Academy?" Ghira questions with his voice raised in shock.

"That would be ideal. Having trained Huntsmen here would make it easier to deal with the Grimm rather than the Guards who are already watching over the villages." Itazura reminds him.

"And you think with Grimm fighting specialists we'd be able to begin claiming parts of the desert and expand?" Sienna asks, mostly to herself as she cups her chin in contemplation.

"In the future that could be an option. There's only so much room on this side of the island and I doubt anyone wants to cut down every tree just to build another house." Kali adds.

"Okay, now if we were willing to go through with this massive undertaking, what else is there?" Ghira kept his focus.

"This final part is probably the most problematic of them all, Atlas is to assist in constructing the transmitter itself and train your personnel to maintain it."

Kali lost some of her spark when that was said but was otherwise still hopeful for the future. Ghira's eyes hardened a touch while Sun deflated a little. Blake seemed a bit unsure but more about how the populace would take to Atlas coming here. Sienna didn't try to hide her fists or angry sneer but…

"Are you kidding me!" Ilia jumped to her feet as she yelled at the fox. "Atlas is a pretty damn good reason why we are confined to this island!" The chameleon girl was livid and her red and yellow skin, hair, and eyes made that emotion quite clear.

"I have to agree with Ilia on that part." Sienna was doing her best to remain civil.

"Look, all they need to do is put together the transmitter and teach you to keep it working. Depending on how much needs to be done, they could be in and out in a few days." Itazura tries to keep things calm. "I even already have a list of qualified people chosen by Ironwood for this project. If you want, you can review their credentials yourself."

That bit of info seemed to calm the tiger enough to let her think rationally. "Can we vet anyone coming to Kuo Kuana from Atlas?"

"Yes Sienna, you can. And to be fair, I've looked over most of them already and a good chunk of the list are Faunus themselves. The humans on the list are all technicians with no history of prejudice." Itazura told her evenly.

"Tell me something, if we were to start this Huntsman Academy, where would we get the teachers? The materials needed for classes? The facilities themselves?" Kali was worried about those details more than having anyone from Atlas on the island.

"Couldn't you put out an ad that you are looking to hire the teachers? You know, Huntsmen and Huntresses with good records. Teaching degrees preferred. Or something like that?" Sun suggests.

"And find someone to be the Headmaster with experience leading. Everyone looking for or recommended for the jobs can be interviewed." Blake finishes the thought.

"Itazura, Blake, Sun, Ilia… please give us some time to think this over." Ghira asks them quietly.

Blake was hesitant to leave, though a look from her mother encouraged her to comply, Sun helping her to her feet. That contrasted sharply with how Ilia stormed out of the room in a huff.

"Here's the info you'll need." Itazura hung back long enough to send the files to the scrolls of the adults before she left.

—-

Dinner that night was tense, Ilia taking the meal in her own room. Conversation was next to nonexistent thanks to the short break between the offer and meal, even the stern glances from Ghira to Sun were absent this time.

Sleep was hard to come by that night for everyone. Too many thoughts about what a Cross Continental Transmit Tower and their own Huntsman Academy on the island would bring.

—-

A week passed in a similar manner before Kali stopped Sun in an otherwise empty hallway.

"What's up, Mrs. B?"

"Sun, I know we're all stressed but it would mean a lot to me if you could get Blake out of the house for a bit and try to help her unwind."

It wasn't any secret for those in the Belladonna home that the youngest cat was a nervous eater and the pantry had been hit hard. It was a common sight to find her with something going into her mouth and her waistline was feeling it.

"I'll do my best!" He gave the mother a sharp salute that she found amusing. "Umm… do you think you could help me with something to help with that?"

Kali's ears perked up that he had an idea already. And as she listened to him whisper, she was having her own spirits lifted.

—-

"Sun?"

"Yeah Blake?"

"What are you doing?"

The blonde had half of his weapon on a work table disassembled while the other half sat nearby intact. Several tools lay to the side that he had obviously used for that process along with some cleaning supplies. She could see smudges of grease and dust on his face and hands, even the tip of his tail was darkened considerably.

"Cleaning Ruyi Jingu Bang." He answered simply as he twisted his cleaning brush down a barrel. "That and kinda thinking about how to upgrade it without changing it too much."

"Upgrades? You really think you need them?" There was another stool available but Blake had found months ago that she had 'a bit more' than what a single stool could hold. Using one often left her with a wedgie at the best of times, not to mention that she'd need a second to hold half of her.

"It's something that's been in the back of my mind, kinda, since I built it back in Vacuo." He shined a light down the barrel to check for any residue left, finding none he moved to the other barrel.

"Why now? Or is it because you have it apart?"

His work paused for a few moments before starting again with the cleaning. "It's Adam."

That certainly caught the cat off guard. She was used to Sun being someone who would let things slide and not worry, especially over little things. Quite honestly, it was HER who seemed to be his greatest concern in a lot of things, and it was touching.

On the other hand, she was getting the nagging feeling that this is what she looked like back at Beacon when she was obsessing over the White Fang.

"A-Adam?"

"Yeah. I'm just figuring that when we fought him, we got lucky. He had to fight off your dad, your mom, and Sienna before we even made a move at him." He let out a sigh. "And I'm sure he'll be expecting us next time we meet."

"Next time?"

"Yeah, next time. I'm betting that he'll be prepared for us and will lead us to a battlefield of his choosing. A few upgrades and practice with them will help even the playing field."

Blake watched as he reassembled the gunchucks with practiced ease. As she did, she realized that if- no- when she fought Adam again, she'll be at a significant disadvantage since it was him who trained her and had been her partner for years. Adam knew how she fought inside and out. The only differences from what he knew were the Dust rounds that she'd added to her arsenal that she could either shoot at him or use in combination with her Shadow semblance to imbue them with elemental powers.

"Do you think we could upgrade Gambol Shroud?" She asks hesitantly. She never really gave adding anything to her weapon a thought since it had so much already in a fairly small package.

"I'm sure you could come up with something." Sun assured her as he tightened the last screw. A press of a switch near the trigger made the golden chain retract and the magnetic clamps engage to lock the pair of shotguns into a short staff a bit longer than his arm. 'Hmmm… ideas.'

"I guess so."

A rustling of a wrapper caught his ears to find Blake with a chocolate bar in hand. He saw her take a bite and he began to realize just how long he'd been at the worktable, his stomach rumbling in the presence of food.

"Um… want the rest?" Blake offered shyly, having easily heard his stomach with her sensitive ears.

"Sure." He reaches for the candy only to realize that his hands were dirty, as was his tail. "Ah…"

"Here." Blake held up the chocolate to his face, allowing him to bite and take the rest.

"Thanks. Are there more?"

Blake blushed as she turned around. "I ah… ate them already."

"Didn't you buy a box of them yesterday?" Sun didn't receive a verbal answer. Instead, the cat girl hurriedly waddled out the door as fast as her legs could carry her. "I'll just say they're gone now."

If there was one thing that he wasn't afraid to admit to anyone but Ghira, it was that Blake's rear was certainly eye catching and he had a good view of it bouncing away until she had to shimmy her way through the door frame, watching as the flesh in her black pants squeezed together before snapping back to normal round shape once she was through.

"As if I didn't need a shower before." The monkey mutters to himself as he runs his hands through his hair.

—-

"Where are we going?" Blake asks as she follows Sun down a road in town. It had been two weeks since Itazura had dropped the bomb on them about the offer of a CCT for Menagerie. Since then, her parents and Sienna had been in meetings together often and many drawings had been made for potential plans for the tower and the infrastructure around it.

It seemed that they were definitely leaning into the offer and were now trying to figure out the designs as well as locations to build it. At the same time, Ilia seemed to have disappeared for the most part. The chameleon girl would show up at random times, mostly for food, and vanish again. It didn't help that Blake's old friend seemed to be angry with her and everyone else but refused to say anything about it to them.

As for Itazura… the little fox was random. Popping up for meals and being found all around Kuo Kuana seemingly doing nothing in particular. Other times, she would run off into the forests and return with some fruits and things she found interesting. Then she'd lock herself in her room for long hours, sometimes skipping meals. Sometimes she'd be with the adults to give them additional information and her opinions.

Overall, things were busy at home. And her eating her worries away didn't exactly help and she was sure that she would need to upsize her pants again thanks to her way of coping with the stress. Training wasn't something that she ever did to relieve stress, it was simply something she did to improve her skills to help her team.

But seeing Adam again… it scared her.

The scar on her stomach throbbed in response to the memory of him. It wasn't just when he stabbed her; it was everything about him. The good memories of talking to him when she was young. Watching him train with the older members of the White Fang and subsequently being trained by him. His rise through the ranks and how they grew closer as she passed through her teen years.

Then the memories grew bitter as he grew colder and more violent. It was slow but so obvious in retrospect. And the Vale branch turned into an echo chamber that grew to support his ways. The same ways that she had followed until that day, the day that she just couldn't follow him anymore and cut him away with the hope of never seeing him again.

The Fall of Beacon had to be the worst day of her life. Sure, the two missions she was on with Sun that showed how far the White Fang had fallen, working with the likes of Roman Torchwick. Team RWBY and Dr. Oobleck and their mission to Mountain Glenn that ended in The Breach in Vale was bad enough to be considered a deep personal loss to her, she hated that so many of the White Fang had been killed that day in the tunnels by their own doing. Whether it was the bombs in the cars or the Grimm, or even the crash… it was what they had set up and it was her team that had tried to stop it from happening.

But the full out attack on Beacon, killing indiscriminately and dropping Grimm past the defenses, there was nothing left to save anymore. Adam stabbing her wasn't the last straw to break her sympathy for the group, it had crumbled as she struck down dozens of other White Fang members earlier that night.

What Adam did… that simply ensured that she was branded in case she ever began to forgive. The scar on her stomach, the massive scar that she was sure that Yang has around her arm, Ruby being left unconscious in her bed, and Weiss fretting over them all. Not to mention all of the other injuries to her friends, Pyrrha almost being killed and she had heard of the decimation of Team BRNZ and many of the other deaths and career ending wounds.

She had been so filled with guilt that she followed her instinct to run, only to be caught. And she couldn't be more grateful that Sun had caught her that day, even if now she believed that if he didn't then, he would have followed her home to make sure she was safe if she knew he was around or not.

And she had no idea if she would have slapped him for following her or hugged him for caring about her. Probably both though in which order would be debatable.

"We're here!" Sun announced with a smile.

They were now by the waterfront, away from the docks, where several shops and restaurants were built over the shallow waters of this part of the bay. It really was picturesque with the clear water and fluffy white clouds in the blue sky.

"I really was out of it." Blake mumbled to herself.

"Just a little." Sun comments with one arm over her shoulders and the other pinching his fingers for emphasis, sarcastically.

"But…" he drew out the word as he stepped in front of her to speak face to face. "That's also why we're here."

"Sun!" The cat tries to protest.

"C'mon! You were so caught up in your own head that you missed the entire walk here. You need to relax."

"Or what? Itazura is going to lock us in a closet again?"

"Your mom insisted."

"Have I been that bad?"

"Well… back at Beacon when you were bad, you were barely eating. Now… um… you're so stressed that you're eating everything." The blonde tells her with an odd combination of his usual bluntness and embarrassment. In response, her face turned red as few girls liked their eating habits being pointed out, especially in public. Thankfully, he was quiet.

"So, what are your plans for us to relax?" She relented knowing that she couldn't stand seeing him down in the dumps or worse again. Not to mention her mother.

"How about we have lunch here and we talk about other stuff?" He jerks his thumb over to one of the small stalls on the piers.

The pair sat at a table where they could look over the waters on either side of them. Blake opted for the bench, understandably, while Sun took the chair across from her. The food was great, mostly seafood and fruits, and they were content to sit in the sun and let the ocean breeze cool them as they sipped their drinks.

"Man, I still can't get over how much water is around here." Sun says as he watches a school of small but very colorful fish pass under them.

"Really? I thought you had gotten used to it when you were in Mistral?"

"It was enough to break me into getting used to the rain. Until I moved to Mistral for school, rain was nothing but a joke at home. But here? There's water everywhere! The ocean, the rivers, the rain." He certainly was excited about the simple concept of the water cycle of Menagerie, making Blake giggle.

"Do you miss Vacuo? I guess it might be hard to get used to how dry it is after this."

"My cousin Star is back in Vacuo. I'm sure you'd get along great with her when you meet." He paused to drink from his coconut cup, missing the brief flush that graced Blake's cheeks at the thought of meeting his family. "Other than her, it's just the caravan that I grew up with." He shrugs.

"You don't really feel too much for them?"

"I do, it's just… It's just how life is in Vacuo. There are so many things that are dangerous in the desert from the sun to the sands and the critters that live there- Grimm or not. It's the way of life to know that nothing is permanent and you can't stop to mourn what was lost, no matter what it was."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The best way to think about it is that you just need to live. Helping others is still a good thing but there's only so many who will take that burden because of how hard life can be."

"I see. Is that why you became a Huntsman?"

Sun closed his eyes as he collected his thoughts for a few moments. "The thing is… I just find that I like to help people. Being able to fight to keep the caravan safe from bandits and Grimm, it just felt natural to go the next step and make it my job. After I told the caravan leader, he led us to Vacuo where he dropped me off with Star to really teach me to fight. She taught me for nearly a year before I went to Oscuro Academy."

"Then you moved to Haven Academy?"

"Yeah, the old man who raised me in the caravan said I was full of wanderlust. It took a few years for me to really understand what he meant but within a year I had gone from Vacuo to Mistral to Vale and to here in Menagerie."

"You certainly get around." She giggles.

"Maybe but I really like it here. It just feels… natural."

"You don't want to go home?"

"I don't mind the desert so it wouldn't be a bad idea to stop back for a visit or job every so often. Otherwise, I may just be the desert expert that Kuo Kuana needs to push east over the mountains."

"Maybe, that would be helpful." Blake smiles as they take a break from their conversation to watch the waves and the more aquatic Faunus swimming around.

"Sun?" He turns back to her from watching a cloud that was beginning to look like a Goliath. "Do you ever think of someone and find that a single word seems to fit them almost perfectly?"

The question caught him off guard and he needed some time to really wrap his brain around what she had in mind. "Ah…"

She giggles at his reaction before speaking again. "Take Ruby for example. What I see in her is 'Purity'. All she wants to do is become a Huntress just so she can help others. She always tries to see the best in everyone and to do what she can for those around her."

"Okay, I can see that." He leaned back in his chair to relax a bit more. "What about Weiss?"

Blake smirked at that, figuring that the girl would bring up mixed feelings from her White Fang days and her RWBY days. Honestly, she had to admit that there were still some mixed feelings. "Weiss, I found, seems to represent 'Defiance'. Almost everything she does is to distance herself from her father and his actions, all with the goal to correct the wrongs of the past."

"And I wish her luck with that!" He picks up his cup and holds it up, Blake knocking hers against his in support of the sentiment.

"For Yang, I believe 'Strength' works best." She begins, preempting his question along with following the pattern that was set. "She's dealt with so much hardship in her life and pushed through it all for the sake of her friends and family. Holding them up with a smile and teaching them to stand on their own feet."

"Sounds like 'Endurance' would work for her."

"I think that one suits Denko better. From what I've heard, he's been taking the pain for others since he was young when they need it. That helps them push through on their own."

"So… what's my word?" He was curious.

Blake looked to the sky with a finger tapping her lips, ears swiveling around at random sounds. She knew she was teasing him by drawing out her answer, his swaying tail being the only sign of impatience as he waited. The sight making her giggle and that grew as he maintained his eye contact looking like a kid ready for their presents on their birthday.

"Hmm… I'd have to say… 'Earnest' suits you well." Her smile grew into a full grin as an odd blend of confusion and pride crossed his face before settling into expectant. She had provided small additions to her choices earlier.

"Alright… It works for you because you try without asking for a reward. You're there when needed, even when the one you help doesn't realize it at the time. And you are always trying your best… even if you can be a goofball at times."

They were both amazed at how sincere and naturally that came out but they let it be. And it was Sun that broke the following silence.

"I'm happy to be of service to you, my lady!" He gave Blake an over the top bow, even as he sat in his chair and his cup was picked up by his tail, moving it to where he could drink from the straw to finish it off.

That was more than enough to make the cat girl through her head back and laugh, the railing that served as the backrest creaking from the sudden movement.

"But I guess it's fair for me to tell you what your word is." Sun had calmed considerably, even if he was smiling at how she had fully relaxed and let her tension wash away.

Her curiosity peaked, she leaned in. "I guess so."

"'Driven' is your word." He smirked at her shocked expression. "You have goals that you try to reach, good ones. You might take a few wrong turns and have to backtrack, and hit a few ruts, but you keep your eyes on the destination even if you're not sure how to get there."

Blake dropped her face into her hands to cover her blushing cheeks and the surge of tears that overwhelmed her. But she did manage to speak, "Thank you."

Those words made the monkey boy smile at the cat. And their day wasn't over yet.

—-

"I never tried to make you think

Or let see one thing for yourself

But now you're off with someone else

And I'm alone.

You see I thought that

I might keep you for my own!"

The station on the radio was changed abruptly.

"Just hold on loosely

But don't let go!

If you cling too tightly

You're gonna lose control!

Your baby needs someone

To believe in

And a whole lot of space

To breathe in!"

This time the radio was turned off, permanently and violently, being cut in half and shot by a rifle would do that quite effectively.

Adam sat in his tent growling angrily as he glared at the remains of the radio. And he felt that he had good reason to be angry; the takeover of the White Fang headquarters was supposed to be an easy job.

He was expected by Sienna to meet with her so getting close to her would have been easy. He had agents loyal to him embedded all over the island all the way up to Sienna's personal guards and those in the security control room. He even had Hazel there to back him up should things go unexpectedly wrong with his assassination plan for the High Leader.

But apparently Sienna had been called away just when his plan was to be implemented. He had been locked in a room for nearly a fortnight before his patience ran out and he decided to go through with the coup. There had even been the hope that he could capture Sienna so that he could have her watch as he took over the position of High Leader and bring all of his plans to fruition.

The initial attacks had gone smoothly but Sienna's right hand woman managed to gather a number of loyalists and fled to the bunker room. The few other loyalists to Sienna were scattered around the island and outnumbered.

Then Sienna returned, and she wasn't alone. She had come with Ghira and Kali Belladonna, something that he felt there was no problem with- if he could take out both the current and former High Leaders, he'd be the only choice for dissenters to turn to. Of course, they had brought a couple of the Guard from Menagerie, no surprises there. The Albain brothers, that was a shock but they didn't seem to be there willingly.

But SHE was there. Blake was with her parents and Sienna! Not to mention the other two Faunus with her, that he barely took notice of besides the monkey who had made it to the Vytal Tournament Finals- the only Faunus.

And that was when things went from sure victory to a tough fight as he had to confront them all in the throne room. Sienna was known to be dangerous under normal circumstances, and Ghira was a gentle giant who would fight when pushed far enough. Kali had been a surprise. As for Blake, he had seen her fear overwhelming her but that monkey managed to break her out of it.

And it was the five of them who had beaten him. Six if the reports of the fox girl were to be believed with her illusions. That had to be the only real reason he had lost the fight; a cheap trick.

Though his back protested yet after two weeks of healing, several fractures kept him from training as he normally would or taking his frustrations out on any Grimm foolish enough to be drawn to his anger. It didn't help that Hazel had left him, but not without telling him that he was still going to be included in his Mistresses plans and the rewards would be determined by his contributions.

"What are you thinking… My Love?" He grumbles as he takes his pain medication since he had aggravated his mending bones. Another week of rest with his aura helping the healing process would get him back to normal. And he had several plans to go over, many of them related to what Hazel had asked for him to take care of.

—-

"Now where are we going?" Blake asks as she walks next to Sun down an unfamiliar path. It was well traveled but she never came this way before, being away from home for years would do that.

"Somewhere else to relax and have fun." Was the simple answer. "But you're gonna need this." He handed off the backpack that he'd been carrying to her. She had been wondering why he had it since they left home yet every time she'd try to look at it for a hint of the contents, he'd find a reason to move it away.

Then they found a break in the trees where the path ended to reveal a wide stretch of white sand beach. A few palms grew across the sand to provide shade and the water is clear and inviting, the waves not being too big to swim or play safely. Several stands dotted the area to sell drinks and snacks to those enjoying the surf. Other facilities were located behind the stands.

"The beach? But I don't…" Blake gasped as she looked at Sun, only to see him flicking his eyes down to the bag. She opened the top to see a pair of towels, two pairs of sandals, and an edge of something dark purple inside, complete with a tube of sunscreen and sunglasses.

Sun reached over and plucked out a pair of sandals. I'll take these and we can get changed. Meet you in a few minutes." He hurried off to the facilities with signs for lockers and restrooms with showers.

"It can't be too bad, right?" The cat sighs as she goes to her side to get changed, hoping that what was in the bag fit her.

A few minutes later, Sun was waiting near the stands and watching for Bake. His own clothes were wrapped up in his shirt while he wore a pair of black trunks and his grey sandals with green straps on his feet. He may have a fair amount of patience but he also wanted to see how things turned out.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long for Blake to emerge, blushing and trying to be invisible. She was now in a deep purple bikini with the top being tied in front of her while the bottoms were stretched across her wide hips and very ample rear, the Belladonna symbol on her right cheek. White sandals with purple bows for straps donned her feet, the rest of her clothes already stowed in the pack.

'How did she hide those?!' Sun's eyes bugged out at the size of the rump bouncing behind the cat he came with, either black was extremely slimming or her pants were incredibly tight and the contents had been under extreme pressure. Not that the rest of her was exactly small after she had raided the pantry at home and put a huge dent in the stock every day since they fought the White Fang last. Everything about her had grown large and soft and he couldn't take his eyes off her as she waddled her way to him.

There were a few stares at the large girl, there were few on the island that could match her in size in any way, though some were of admiration that Bake had the confidence to wear the bikini or those who simply had standards that had skin deep standards and gave her looks of disgust. At least most were neutral, either out of courtesy or recognition of who she is.

"Ready?" Sun asks as he fell into step beside her as they passed the stands for a good spot on the beach, which luckily wasn't too crowded at the moment.

"How did you know my size?" Blake asks quietly.

"I didn't, but your mom took care of that part." The reply made her blush deeper knowing that her mother was snooping in her clothes.

Sun stabbed a pair of umbrellas into the sand for shade as Blake spread the towels, his clothes in the backpack to keep the sand out. Then came the sunscreen, and despite Sun declaring that he was used to the sun from growing up in Vacuo he gave in after Blake squirted some on her hand and nearly tackled him to the ground to rub it on him, her weight assisting to keep him down as he 'fought' back. That simply led to them having a 'fight' that involved rubbing the sunscreen over as much as the other as possible, laughing all the while.

Then they took some time to enjoy the water, even joining in with some other beachgoers in some water games. If there was one thing that they found in the waves, it was that Blake had the mass to hold her place while Sun and everyone else were moved or knocked off their feet. And that Blake could still jump quite well, her Huntress training allowing her to easily breach the water from waist deep… though the landings would create huge waves. Sun tried to use his clones at one point to catch her but with unsure footing and being hit with a wave at the same time that Blake made contact, they were all bowled over.

The coconut drinks as they lay on their towels to let the sun dry them certainly hit the spot as they relaxed. After a few minutes though, Blake took off her sunglasses and rolled over onto her side, a bit of a task with how much weight was on her hips and involved lifting a large hemisphere of flesh.

"I guess you were right, I did need this." She smiles at the monkey, though part of that had to do with seeing that his tail had all of the hair puffed out of control. She also noticed that with him stretched out, his abs were starting to show again, almost like he had lost weight while she had gained.

"And I'm glad to be of service whenever you need to relax again." He grinned, his eyes tracing her curves and seeing that her left hand was atop her hip high over his current vantage point. Then again, those hips were wide enough to fill most average doors and then some.

A small band was walking up the beach playing their music as they had done almost all day, or at least as long as Blake and Sun had noticed them when they arrived. But now they were getting close enough to their end of the strip to be heard clearly.

"- there's a place called Kokomo.

That's where you wanna go

to get away from it all.

Bodies in the sand,

Tropical drink

Melting in your hand.

We'll be falling in love

To the rhythm of a

steel drum band

Down in Kokomo!"

The pair looked at each other with some surprise as a hint of red crept over their faces that had nothing to do with the sun before they giggled and sat up to watch the band play and sing. Either they didn't notice or didn't care that they leaned on each other, they were in good company with good entertainment and drinks.

It would be dark by the time they left Kokomo Beach, not even bothering to change from their swimsuits, simply draping the towels over their shoulders for the trek home. And sleep would come easy for both when they lay in their beds, exhausted and the stresses of life seemingly nonexistent for at least a few more hours.

—-

"This is interesting news you have brought us. Don't you think so, Brother?"

"Yes, Fennec, it is. Some of our plans may have to be changed but for such a prize…"

The two fox Faunus were in their office within the White Fang outpost for Kuo Kuana. Not too much really happened in this branch beyond spreading information from Headquarters or the other branches in the Kingdoms and serving as a recruitment center for those from the island. Since the founding of the White Fang and Kuo Kuana, the outpost had served as the link to the rest of the world. It had also originally been the headquarters of the organization back then but that had been moved once the White Fang membership couldn't fit in the building anymore.

Some may have seen that as a demotion but with the Headquarters moved to an island dedicated to the matters of equality that the Faunus craved. For those who worked in the Menagerie Branch, they took it as a point of pride to be the lifeblood for the residents in both information and protection. A few dozen members worked in the building in the best of times and Corsac and Fennec Albain were those who led the branch and served as the messengers to the Chieftain of Menagerie as well as having seats on the town council.

"Imagine, a CCT tower gifted to the Faunus and built here. Our rise to power would come quickly." Fennec smiles.

"Mind yourself, Brother. We will still need to wait for it to be built." Corsac calms his brother.

"Very true, but we'll have to see how our High Leaders decide to act. We simply know they will jump at the chance to build it, but the people from Atlas…"

"We'll deal with them as needed."

"Hmm… what do you think of this development? After all, it is you who brought this information to us, Sister Ilia."

"I'd rather eat a rat than have anyone from Atlas step foot on Menagerie." The chameleon spat while still kneeling by the door.

"True, but you will allow them to do what is needed, for the good of the Faunus." Fennec stressed.

"For the good of the Faunus." Ilia repeated as she glanced at the object in her hand.

"Now it is best that you return to your room. After all, we need you to keep us updated on their plans." Corsec dismisses her. Ilia nods and rises, lifting a hand to her face.

"Oh, and Sister Ilia?" Fennec stopped his agent just before the girl touched the door handle. "Do remember that you need to keep your temper under control."

"I will." She responds, placing the white mask over her eyes that has a pair of short horns on it. And she walked out of the room to leave the brothers alone.

"Do you think she is capable?" Fennec asks.

"She has all of the motivation in the world. Just so long as her past friendship with Sister Blake does not interfere."

"But it seems that Blake's actions have also provided that motivation."

"Indeed. We should have no problems then."

AN: I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next time, we'll be bouncing around from one group to another again as some of the action picks up again. Also, some credits are due for the songs used in this chapter.

Amie by Pure Prairie League

Hold on Loosely by .38 Special

Kokomo by The Beach Boys

In addition, art for Sun and Blake on the beach is on my DA page if anyone is interested.

Until next time, reviews are welcome!