Chapter 44
Pyrrha couldn't help but smile as she watched Yang and her father train together. In only a few days Yang had grown accustomed to her new arm and was almost back to full strength. It left Pyrrha feeling almost out of place. She hadn't recovered fully and her leg was still weaker and slower than before.
Should I replace it like Yang? She wondered as she looked down at her braced leg. I could get back to where I was or even surpass myself! I could have hidden weapons that I could deploy and control with my Semblance! I could have greater control over it than anyone else!
All it would cost is a part of herself. Perhaps it was idiotic to think that way, but she found herself hesitant to really consider it. Was severing a part of herself worth the extra combat ability? The answer was probably yes, and yet it felt wrong. She was a Huntress, it was part of her duty to be the best she could be but if she did so she would forever lose a part of herself.
Is that how Yang feels? The physical can be replaced but it's more than that. I can only imagine how it would feel. She's living through it. Pyrrha knew then and there that at some point she would need to talk to Yang about it. But in the meantime, she needed to prepare. It wouldn't be long until Yang wanted to head after Ruby and the others.
Pyrrha was going to need some new gear, and while she shelved the metal leg for now it had given her some new ideas.
I don't understand. How can they be so… so apathetic!? Adam thought, rubbing his hands together as he leaned on the balcony overlooking the town. Blake threatens everything and they just don't care. It's so… so frustrating!
The city was quiet as darkness came and the lights turned on. The nocturnal Faunus were now going out to work. It kept a sense of life to the city despite how small it was in comparison to the other major cities. They had a night-life for very different reasons. And it will be just as apathetic.
Adam sighed. He'd thought it would be easier. Show that even someone like him could make human friends and then everyone would believe they could make a difference. He'd been wrong. So very wrong. But where did he go from here?
Lost yet again Adam stood, pondering the choices in front of him. What was the best way to go about this? Was there even a good way? The sound of the door sliding open pulled him from his thoughts. Kali stepped out onto the balcony, a plate of teacups in hand.
"You'll get cold pondering life's mysteries if you aren't careful." She said with a smile. Adam scoffed and gazed back out over the town. "Tea?" She held out one of the cups for him. He thought for a moment before taking it with mumbled thanks. It was warm and comforting.
"I'm not sure what to do." He said after a long moment of silence.
"Neither are we. We've tried to limit the influence from Fennec and Corsac but they still recruit many here. We need a way to get the people to care." Kali sighed. "But how to do that has stumped us."
Adam drank deep of his cup and sighed. "I thought that this would be easy. I've never had trouble galvanising people before."
"Well, you were using their hatred to do it. That's easier than using their empathy." Kali looked up to the stars. "Empathy is hard to come by at the moment. Especially for those that have historically done so much to harm us."
"And yet you try to inspire that empathy." Adam turned to face her again. Kali brought her face down with a content smile.
"I do. The Faunus may have been treated terribly throughout history, but we don't have to cling to it. We can change things. All we need is to feel some empathy. To feel for others, even if they've hurt us and we hate them. For example: the first man you killed."
Adam swallowed and nodded. He remembered. Of course he did. "He attacked us. Tried to kill Ghira. I cut him down with my Semblance."
"Yes," Kali said solemnly. "But did you ever stop to think about if he had a family? If you had taken him from those that loved him?"
"No. But should I have let him kill Ghira?"
"No!" Kali blurted out. She took a breath and composed herself. "I will never admonish you for saving my husband, or my daughter. I will admonish you for resorting to killing. And for not even thinking about the consequences of your actions."
"He wasn't a good person. He was a racist and attempted to kill us." Adam rebutted.
"So what? Killing him did not remove a racist from this world, Adam! Everyone who ever cared about him was given a reason to hate Faunus. You affirmed all that he believed about us. It's not an easy path to take Adam. We have to rise above them and prove them wrong."
Adam growled for a moment but then sighed. "I know. But it's still wrong that we have to prove it to them."
"True. But you should understand by now that this world is not kind. To achieve anything you have to work hard. Besides if we don't prove it to them then nothing will change. If all we do is hide away then they can continue to teach their children that we are evil monsters. The cycle shall continue unless we stand up and show them, and their children, that we aren't what they say we are."
She reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "It may not be the best or most fair thing, but if we want this world to change, it's what we have to do."
Adam nodded slowly. "Take the high road and be better. I understand. But it still takes us back to the previous issue. How do we get others to understand?"
"Yes. Violence may have given us some good changes, with those in power fearing us enough to grant some concessions. But it won't last. The moment Atlas or another country defeats the White Fang for good, and it will happen, they will be able to reverse every change. Everything will go backwards because the minds of those in power weren't changed. But of course, changing minds is a difficult and long process that doesn't always work."
"There's never a good or easy answer." Adam said and drained his cup. Kali chuckled.
"True." She took the empty cup from his hand and placed it back on the tray. "Now get some rest. Tomorrow we can discuss new ideas."
"Yeah…" Adam sighed and pulled away from the railing. A glint in the tree's caught his eyes, however. "You head on in Kali. Would you mind telling Sun and his team to come outside?"
"Why's that?" She asked as she pulled the sliding door open.
"Because we've got a spy to hunt." He said as he grabbed his weapon from his belt. He brought it up and pulled the trigger on Blush, firing his crimson blade at the trees. He vaulted over the railing and fell to the ground, rolling as he hit the grass. A yelp sounded from the trees as a pair of shapes, one a sword and one a humanoid, fell to the ground.
Adam ran forward as the spy picked themselves up and started to run away. He reached down and grabbed his sword as he ran past. The figure started to jump from tree to tree, so Adam brought his sheath up once more and opened fire. Bark was torn apart by his buckshot, the figure just barely dodging out of the way of his attacks.
He soon had to start jumping onto the branches himself to keep up, slowing his rate of fire as they drew closer and closer to the town itself. As the figure jumped onto the first roof their skin began to change to a more natural colour. It was all Adam needed to confirm his suspicion.
"Ilia!" He yelled as he hit the roof in a three-point landing. "Stop!"
She stopped at the edge and turned to face him, her hand flicking as she deployed her weapon and struck in one fluid motion. Adam grunted as he blocked it with his arm, firing Blush with his other. Ilia grunted as she took the shot to her stomach. She retracted her whip and took a more defensive stance.
"Ilia we don't have-"
"Yes, we do!" She interrupted. "You betrayed us! You betrayed Blake! She gave you everything and you turned your back on her! But I won't! I haven't! She needs me!"
"Ilia… listen to yourself! Are you really going to keep killing just because Blake is!?"
"Yes." She growled and lashed out. Adam was ready this time and parried it with Wilt. He fired again and pushed her back. She stumbled and almost fell over the edge but instead jumped backwards, giving herself enough momentum to land on the next, lower down, roof. With a roll, she jumped back to her feet as Adam gave chase.
"If you want to keep doing whatever she wants just because of your feelings then I'll have to stop you. Surrender, or else." He threatened after landing on the new roof.
She responded by pouring Lightning Dust into her whip and lashing out again. Adam, adamant about not being filled with thousands of volts after the Sea Feilong attack, dodged the oncoming attacks rather than blocked. He pulled the trigger on Blush whenever he could get a good shot in. While he could feel his stamina draining quickly with the amount of ducking and dodging he was doing, he could see Ilia's Aura spark as his bullets struck her again. She roared and increased the assault, trying harder and harder to beat him.
Suddenly a cord wrapped around her leg and pulled, throwing her to the floor and dragging her away from Adam. He looked up to see Scarlett pulling on a cord that had come from the bottom of his pistol. The others were arriving now and as Sun jumped up onto the roof Adam noticed something. A scroll.
Ilia finally wiggled free and jumped to her feet. Adam suspected her eyes went wide when she saw him picking up her scroll while reinforcements arrived for him. She growled but turned and ran. When SSSN made to give chase he held up a hand.
"No need to follow her. We've got intel now. She won't listen anyway."
"Are you sure!?" Sun asked, voice shrill. "I mean come on! We can get her!"
"We don't need to. I know her well. I can get into the scroll." Adam said, pocketing it and turning away. Sun groaned loudly but followed.
This will let us see what's going on in the White Fang. What are you planning Blake?
"Qrow!" The red shape cried.
"Ugh! That's… that's... not good…" Qrow coughed.
"Bring the first aid kit! Quickly!" It yelled again.
"Here! That's not looking good…" a shade with a blonde top whispered.
"Not helping Jaune!" Red said with a growl.
"Shit…" Qrow felt his consciousness slip.
"Qrow? Qrow!? Qrooooow!" The voice got more and more distant as that scorpion's poison took hold.
Fuck… and I was supposed to be the cool uncle…
A/N: So, this fic will be a year old in a couple days. It's kinda weird to think about honestly. Anyway. So Pyrrha's thoughts were something my beta brought up several weeks ago. She's maimed, permanently worse than she used to be. Objectively speaking she should replace it so that she can be at her best. Of course, objectivity doesn't always matter. It's a massive change after all and it's not so simple as "should I?" Will she eventually? Maybe. We'll see. Aside from that Adam and Kali get to talk about stuff. Complicated stuff. Oh and Qrow's poisoned. Poor him.
I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time!