Mattachanna Awinita sat on the steps of the meeting house, her fingers tapping against the wood of her staff as she waited for the leaders to adjourn. She had been in total disbelief since the announcement had reached their village hidden deep in the desert of Menagerie. Outside of the village itself, only the Belladonna's were aware of its existence. So there was a slight panic in Kimi when they had received word that the leaders at Menagerie Port had agreed to allow the Schnee Dust Company to mine in the desert. What had they been thinking? Granted, even if Atlas had offered them protection, which wasn't something they really needed, what else could they have offered? Lien? The people of Menagerie were doing fine, they didn't need lien either.
The great doors of the building were thrown open and the members poured out past Matachanna as she leapt to her feet and turned to look for Ghira. She was sure that he would be able to clear everything up for her and then she could return home with her mind at ease. She ran to him quickly as he had just stepped out of the house and attempted to tackle him as she hugged him and he chuckled as he swept her up and twirled her around.
"Awinita! What brings you to town today?" He asked her laughing as he placed her back on her feet. He looked her over. She had brown hair with a tuft of white highlighting her bangs that offset her forest green eyes, always wide with wonder and awe. She wore a dark green, long sleeve v-neck that hugged her frame but only on the left side, meeting at a point around her middle finger in a sort of glove. The right side of her body was covered in a light brown dress that came up to her shoulder, three leather straps running across her chest to make sure it stayed in place and kept her bosom concealed, the lantern sleeve open at the wrist. It ended mid-thigh, her legs covered with tan leggings which met her dark green boots, accented with white fur along the top. "You've really grown up, haven't you. I remember when you didn't even come up past my knees. Did you run into any Pukwudgies or Cerastes on the way here?"
"No I didn't, thankfully." She looked over the staff in her hand, gnarled wood that twisted around itself until it reached the top where it held a glowing rock in place, roughly the size of a large egg, and shaped similarly too. It gave off a dark black energy that drifted gently off of the gem-like smoke, steadily whisking away. "I think we would have been able to take them."
"You brought Bjorn with you?" Ghira asked. She nodded and he smiled at her as he wrapped his left arm over her shoulder and walked down the path with her. "What your tribe did with that mysterious technology has always fascinated me. Perhaps the two of you would like to stay in town tonight and join Kali and I for dinner? We'd love to have you and catch up." Awinita laughed, she was honored but she had only come to the port for one reason, and as soon as she got her answers, she would be able to be on her way.
"As much as I would love to, I really need to get back home as soon as possible. It's the end of the harvesting season and with mother and father both being ill this year, I've had to work twice as hard to make sure that the tribe will have something to eat. I actually came here to ask you about the SDC coming into mine in the desert," she told him. He raised an eyebrow and released her, looking down at her.
"What's that?" He inquired.
"What are they offering us?" She asked. "Why after all of this time would we decide that it's okay for Atlas to come in here and tear the place up? You know what they used to do to the White Fang. You've heard about how they treat their Faunus employees. This is a safe haven for Faunus, but you're allowing them to come here and start digging." Ghira grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes as she wrenched away.
"Awinita. The world is a different place than it was when your grandparents were sent to this island after the war. We need to strengthen our relationship with the humans, and the best way to do so is for both parties to show a mutual trust towards each other. The Schnee Dust Company is now run by Weiss, who as you know, is my daughter's sister-in-law. She has taken the company in a completely different direction than her father, and I think that you're going to find that we can be of use to each other. Much like Vacuo, most of this island is covered in a desert which makes it a prime location for excavating Dust from the earth. They're going to give us some of it in exchange for using the land," Ghira explained.
"But it's our land!" She protested. Ghira sighed and thought about the situation for a moment before reaching into his pocket giving her a rather large handful of lien. She took it and looked it over with wide eyes. "What's this for?"
"It's obvious to me that my word isn't going to be good enough. I want you to go and see it first hand. I'll send some of my men to Kimi to help with the harvest, but I want you to travel to Atlas and talk to Weiss Schnee. Have her give you a tour of their facilities, make her show you how the Faunus are treated now that she's in charge. That should be enough lien to get you there and allow you to stay for a few days before coming back. I'll tell Blake to let Weiss know to expect you," Ghira told her. Awinita looked it over for a long moment before looking back up at him.
"I believe you Ghira, but it's safer to stay here. I'm not sure that I want to leave the island," She argued. He crouched slightly so that he was eye level with her.
"Of course you do. You've always told me how unfair it is that after the war the Faunus were forced to stay here. If you think it's so unfair, go! See what the rest of the world has to offer. If you don't like what you find, you are always free to return," he informed her. She searched his eyes and nodded slightly. She would go and talk to Weiss, hoping to persuade the woman to leave their land and look for her Dust elsewhere.
"Thank you Ghira!" She exclaimed. She threw her arms around him and he chuckled as they hugged again.
"You'd better get going if you plan on making the last ship out of here today!" He told her. She released him and began running down the path towards the docks. "Let's have dinner when you get back, okay?" She laughed as she waved back to him.
"Yes! That sounds great!" She shouted. She turned back and ran to the market, standing in the middle of it for a long moment before she headed back towards the direction she had come from. She had almost forgotten Bjorn! She trailed off of the path, stopping at the tree line that separated the rest of Port Menagerie from the desert and the dangers that it brought with it. That was where she had left Bjorn.
When the tribe had been sent to the desert at the end of the Great War to determine whether or not it would be possible to inhabit the area, a select few had managed to survive long enough to find a heavily wooded area that was close to the center of the island. It was a secret that only they knew about, and they intended to keep it that way, finding an ancient technology that had predated the kingdoms, or so it seemed. Machines that had been created out of a conductive and dark black metallic material, constructed to look like Grimm. The people cultivated lightning Dust and found ways to make them run and work, using them as their own. The machines helped harvest the land, defend the people from Grimm and other various activities. Awinita's primarily took the form of an Ursa and had been her companion since the chief had deemed her old enough to operate one.
"Bjorn!" She called out. He slowly lumbered over to her and she moved through the brush to him, rubbing his neck and placing her hands on him, pulling him down slightly to view the small power indicator in the middle of his back. Almost empty. She lifted her staff above her head, it gathered energy from the air around it and glowed more and more intensely until she slammed it against her mech, black lightning blasting out from it and dancing across Bjorn. He roared as his eyes lit up red as they normally did and he swung his body away. It was more than enough to keep him energized for the rest of the day. "Ready to go?" He nodded.
Awinita boarded the ship with her pseudo-Grimm, after much protesting from the captain, and headed towards the Vale coastline. It was her task now. She was the only one who would be able to stop the Schnee Dust Company.
How long had she been traveling with Bjorn now? It must have been close to a week, and she hoped that she was approaching the northern border of Vale sooner than later. She had never anticipated that she would be gone for so long and everything in her wanted her to turn back now. What if they didn't finish the harvest in time? What if she didn't make it back before winter began? She didn't want her tribe to suffer just because she felt as though she was on some sort of diplomatic mission to save the island and maintain her pride. Perhaps Ghira was right. If she went back now, she was sure that she could get back to Menagerie before they needed her.
She looked down at Bjorn, she rode him on the paths and through woods in between towns and settlements and had him hide whenever they approached one and she had to ask for directions. He was able to travel much faster than she was, and was more than happy to carry her. She sighed. She should just head back.
"Alright, Bjorn. Why don't we head home?" She asked him.
"Hey!" There came a shout from down the path. Bjorn began to turn away and Awinita stopped him, riding slowly a bit further before she came upon a large group of Atlas soldiers that seemed to be attempting to take several Faunus children into their custody. Her tail stuck straight out and was rigid as she leapt off of Bjorn and slowly approached the men on foot.
"What do you men think you're doing?" She demanded. They looked back and aimed their guns at her.
"Stop! Put your hands up and drop the weapon!" They commanded. She complied and they watched her with hesitant eyes.
"What are you men doing?" She asked. She glanced at the woods, Bjorn headed further in to avoid being seen.
"These kids are members of the White Fang. We're taking them in for proper questioning and containment," One of the men informed her. She gritted her teeth. Containment?!
"They aren't monsters," she informed them. "Let them go and you can take me with you instead."
"I'm afraid we can't do that, but we can take you in as well," a soldier told her. A man who appeared to be of higher rank stepped past the men, shoving them out of the way and staring her down. His pink eyes stunned her for some reason.
"That's not what I agreed to," she called back. The general chuckled as he grabbed up one of the children and snatched one of the men's guns away, holding the barrel to the back of a little boy's head. His rabbit ears twitched frantically as he screamed in a severe panic.
"You're not exactly in a position to negotiate. We're the Atlas Army, we don't need you Faunus ruining things around here. Especially the White Fang. The only option that you have is to come with. If you refuse, I'll kill these kids and you'll still have to come with. I'm sure you'll make the right choice here," he reassured her. He pushed the gun harder against the child's head. "I'll give you to the count of three, and then we're gonna find out if this kid's semblance is immortality." Awinita was stunned. The look in this man's eyes terrified her, and no matter what she did, the boy was going to die.
"Wait," She pleaded. He smirked and kept staring directly into her soul.
"One…" Without warning the child disappeared from his grasp and was replaced by a woman who was wearing mostly black and wielding a long black katana. She sneered at the man for a moment as he slid back and without warning, they swapped places, the woman holding his gun and the general now gripping the blade. He was blindsided by a younger girl wearing chainmail and she clashed her own blade against his, which appeared to be an exact replica.
"Mistress!" The other girl shouted. She knocked the General back and tossed her blade to the redhead who caught it, tossing the gun back at her partner.
"Thank you Crimson," she spoke. Her voice was sure and felt like silk to Awinita's ears, surely these two could be trusted. Crimson opened fire on the soldiers as Awinita picked her staff back up and slowly charged it.
"Bjorn! Now!" She called out. She waited for her mech to arrive as she watched the children flee into the woods as the chaos ensued. She blasted the dark lightning at the general, causing him to be thrown back into the mass of soldiers, taking down a few with him and losing his grip on the woman's sword. Athena swapped places with him and slid to a stop as she grabbed her sword out of the air, now wielding both blades. The general landed close to Awinita, lying on his back and looking up at her. He watched as a Mechanical Ursa ran at full speed for the girl before shattering apart and clinging to her body, shifting and crawling over her physique until she was covered in a lightweight black armor that had two red glowing streaks that ran at a diagonal, down from her chest and meeting at her bellybutton.
"What the hell is that?!" He yelled out. Awinita laughed quietly as she blasted him away again with her staff and slowly moved towards the men that acknowledged her and ran at the command of their general. She looked down at the armor that covered her. Bjorn was her machine companion, but unlike the others back at Kimi, Awinita had a technopathic power that allowed her to reform her mech however she chose. It came in handy in battle and deterred most minor threats from attacking.
"Who are you?" Awinita asked as she glanced back and forth between Athena and Crimson.
"Those men from before were right. Those children were White Fang, as are we. The kids wandered too far from our village and as the Atlas Military has always done in the past, they were going to take them and try to experiment on them," Athena explained. "My handmaiden and I were on the way back from the city of Vale when we came across the men and you showed up at about the same time." She handed Crimson's blade back to her and sheathed her own, walking across the 'battlefield' and shaking the girl's hand. "But where are my manners, I am Athena Taurus, and this is my servant, Crimson."
"I saw the tail Mistress. She's a Faunus," Crimson told Athena. Athena looked interested but Awinita blushed and took a few steps backward.
"Where are you from, child," Athena asked her.
"I've heard about the White Fang. Adam Taurus gave Faunus a bad name," Awinita told Athena. Her face became bright red and she took a step towards the girl but Crimson quickly grappled her arm.
"Athena!" Crimson snapped. Athena yanked free and glared at Crimson who shrunk away, bowing her head and averting her eyes. "I'm sorry Mistress!" Athena looked back at Awinita and gave her a forced grin, trying to relieve the stress of the situation.
"My brother had the right idea! He just went the wrong way about it," Athena recalled as she stared up at the sky. "But you don't have to tell me where you're from, I already know. I've seen that style of clothing before. The island and safe haven of Faunus, Menagerie. Why, pray tell, would you leave your home to come all the way here? Is it a lover perhaps? Needed a change of scenery? Hm?" Awinita looked back down the path towards where she had come from.
"Just wanted to come see one of the big cities. Travelers and others that come in on ships always talk about how amazing they are. I wanted to see one first hand, see if the stories were true," Awinita told her. Athena's lips tugged upward at each end as she began to circle the girl slowly.
"Why wouldn't you travel to Haven?" Crimson still kept her head bowed, now kneeling on the ground on one knee and occasionally glancing up at her Mistress. "It would be much closer than heading all the way to Vale, and you'd have a much greater chance of getting back to Menagerie without risking winter beginning before you return. Surely there must be some other reason that you'd travel the extra distance." She stopped behind Awinita, grabbing her by the shoulders and moving to her ear. "I heard that the Schnee Dust Company is going to be doing some digging on the island. You aren't all planning on taking them down, are you? Has Ghira and the others bit off more than they can chew this time?"
"No!" She spun around and shoved Athena away. "Is there talk of such a thing? I have to get back to Menagerie and warn them!" Athena looked over Awinita's shoulder and waved for Crimson to stand up and she complied.
"Not that I've heard, but if there were discussions of something like that being planned, the only way that I can see it being stopped is by convincing Atlas to leave as soon as possible. Then everyone will be safe and all of you who decided to stay back on the island would be ensured your complete safety again, wouldn't you?" Awinita nodded but was still hesitant and she glanced over at Crimson who approached them.
"You have incredible power!" Crimson told her. "Join us! We have a plan to make sure that our kind is never underestimated again, it'll leave Atlas and all of the other kingdoms no choice but to stay out of our affairs once and for all. You would be a powerful asset towards Mistress Athena's cause." Athena laughed and brushed Crimson off.
"Our cause Crimson. My cause is for the good of all Faunus," Athena reassured the girl. "How about it? Stay a few extra months and train with us and when we're done with Vale no man will ever dare to test the Faunus again." Awinita wasn't sure that she could trust Atlas after the stunt that the general had just tried to pull on her. Perhaps Ghira's view of the White Fang had been skewed, or they had changed since Adam's death. She needed to do this. For her family back home and the Belladonnas. She extended her hand and shook Athena's.
"I'd be glad to help," she told Athena with a nod and a smile to reassure both of them, herself included. Athena smiled and wrapped her arm around Awinita, guiding her into the woods.
"I'm glad to hear that! Let me show you to the village!" She exclaimed leaving Crimson behind for a moment, looking at the minor amount of blood that had been spilled on the road. She got down on her hands and knees and rubbed her hands in it, looking at it as she let it stain her skin. She trembled but was distracted shortly afterward as her scroll rang and she answered it.
"Was she the one or do we need to return?" Said the voice on the other end.
"No Admon, she was the one that we were informed was coming. You and your men will be compensated accordingly by the end of the week. I'll make sure that the funds are transferred in time for your 'raid' next week," Crimson reassured him. She hung up and looked at the blood on the ground again before returning her gaze to her hands. Soon the blood on her hands would be Joseph's. And shortly after, Athena's apprentice.
It would appear that our naive Faunus from Menagerie has been picked up by the Fang on her way to the SDC. Next week, NITE and CBLT face off in Chapter 22 - Capture the Flag!
The base design that my girlfriend used for Mattachana can be found on Deviant Art. The artist is Nahemii-san and the art is titled Elf-ish Outfit.
A big thank you to Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!