"Shadow get down from there, please!" Blake yelled, her clone pulling Shadow off of the back of the couch as Yang came into the room from the bedroom, picking a sock up off of the floor and throwing it down the hallway. "Yang, that is not the laundry basket."
"But they're going to be here any minute," Yang said.
"All the more reason to pick it up!" Blake yelled. "I've been trying to get this place clean for the last couple of hours, you could at least grab Shadow and I can finish cleaning up myself."
"Sure kitty cat, anything to help!" Yang told her. There was a knock at the door and Shadow immediately stopped what she was doing, running to the door and throwing it open.
"Lamar!" She exclaimed. He took a step in, lowering his shades and pointing at her.
"Hey girl," he told her. Yang looked down at Lamar and then back up at Velvet.
"Coco taught him that," Velvet said with a smirk. "Thanks for inviting me over."
"Of course!" Blake called out from the kitchen. "Anytime!" Yang wrapped her arm over Velvet.
"I don't understand why Coco shows him things like that, Lamar and Shadow are obviously going to end up together," Yang said out of the corner of her mouth.
"I heard that!" Blake yelled.
"It's true!" Yang shouted.
"Yang, she's five," Blake argued.
"Never too early to plan for the future," Yang said.
"They're cute together," Velvet said.
"Neela and Eliana?" Violet asked in the doorway. Yang gave her a hug as she came in and closed the door behind her.
"No, but them too," Yang said.
"Hello, Violet!" Blake called out.
"Do you need some help?" Violet asked.
"That would be lovely!" Blake answered. Violet snuck past Yang and Velvet to join Blake as Lamar and Shadow ran to Shadow's room and Velvet took a seat on the couch.
"Missing Coco?" Yang asked. Velvet sighed.
"She's been busy," Velvet explained. "She's been even more restless recently and I think it's because of the Neo-Salem's. It's really been haunting her, she thinks that she can't be forgiven until she's done everything possible to atone for killing that kid. The problem is, it won't ever end, there will always be more for her to fix."
"Sometimes you just have to live with the mistakes you make," Yang said. "She didn't do it out of hate. It wasn't in cold blood. She killed him in order to protect what she loved."
"She doesn't see it that way, I wish she did," Velvet said. "How have things been here with Shadow?"
"Blake won't let her out of her sight thanks to the White Fang," Yang said.
"Yang…" Blake scolded.
"I'm not saying that we should, I'm just saying that we really kicked their asses the other night," Yang said with an air of confidence. She leaned back and stretched her hands above her head.
"Atlas and Mistral still haven't been able to find their camp, it's not like they're getting any closer to a solution," Blake said.
"So we take the fight to them ourselves," Yang told her.
"Yang, we aren't as young as we used to be!" Blake yelled. They all looked at her for a moment. Blake blushed before shrinking away a bit. "We can't take them on ourselves Yang, we'd need permission from Glynda and the council before doing anything. Not to mention that we have an obligation to our daughter."
"You don't think that they'd approve?" Violet asked. Yang rolled her eyes.
"Maybe after a few months when the paperwork is finished being approved," Yang noted. "Blake is in dire need of a vacation is what she's really trying to say."
"I could watch Shadow," Velvet offered.
"While I appreciate the gesture, I would just be a nervous wreck," Blake told them.
"There wouldn't be much to worry about, if someone tried something funny, they'd have Coco to deal with," Velvet joked. "And I'm still pretty spry, I'd give them hell too." Yang laughed and looked back at Blake who was clearly flustered as she continued work on dinner.
"Look on the bright side, at least the Fang aren't in Mistral, there's no way Sterling would stand for that," Yang said.
"You of all people should know how dangerous Mistral can be," Blake reminded her as she shoved a casserole dish into the oven and Violet moved past her to the sink.
"The Branwen Tribe is gone now, nothing else can be that dangerous and the most dangerous thing about my mom's group was Vernal," Yang replied. She covered one side of her mouth. "I think that we all still need to go out for that ladies' night, Jaune can watch the kids, or Tai, and we can all go out and enjoy ourselves for the first time in a while. When was the last time we went out to the Crow Bar?"
"I wasn't with you but I know you two went with Coco and Nora at the beginning of the school year," Velvet reminded her.
"Pyrrha was there too," Blake pointed out.
"Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes," Violet said as she joined them in the living room and sat beside Velvet on the couch.
"You haven't said too much about Eliana being over there, you're not the slightest bit nervous?" Velvet asked her. Violet laughed.
"I'm nervous, but I know she takes after her father and it would take a bizarre act of nature to stop that girl," Violet told them. "I met Alex when I was working at one of the market stands in Haven two years before I had graduated from the combat school. He stopped by every day, he always smiled at me, the same smile that Eliana's been blessed with, and he would ask how my day was and buy an apple from me. He was determined, no matter what kind of mood that I was in, that he was going to make me smile every day. He always did. It didn't take long for me to fall for him and he waited for me to finish my schooling before marrying me, he was already on the police force at that time and was shortly after called on by the council.
We wanted a child in the worst way, but after seeing several different doctors, it wasn't in the cards for us. Alex always kept me believing despite the fact that we had no reason to. He would smile and say if we waited long enough and we just kept trying, we'd eventually have a child. He prayed to Oum and every god imaginable in Remnant, despite his will never breaking, I could tell how desperately he wanted a child and that maybe, just maybe as the person he was, he could simply overcome the impossibility of the matter if he simply believed hard enough…" Violet stopped, she looked at her trembling hands. "And then it happened! A positive pregnancy test! I rushed to the doctor as he was at work that morning and made sure that it wasn't a fluke."
"I told him when he came home that night during dinner, it was the only time I had ever seen him cry. Nine months later and we were blessed with Elli, and she took after her father in every single way. She wanted to spend every moment that she could with him, he was her idol, he could do no wrong though he never would have anyway. It would take more than a few Grimm or some bandits to kill Elli. She's a Latherus through and through." She smiled up at them with wet eyes and shrugged. "Plus she's got a Xiao Long with her." She winked at Yang who glanced at Blake, her words extracting a smile from the Faunus's lips.
Eliana leaned back, looking up at the stars and browsing through some of the news stories on her scroll, half distracted by the two days that they had under their belts so far, the memories of climbing with Neela and running around the field with her best friend. She couldn't imagine anything that made her happier, it was her goal to at least make Neela smile once a day by any means possible. She stopped for a moment as she reached the local news, browsing the story over quickly before sitting up on the branch she was perched on, firing a text to her mother and asking her if she knew anything about it.
*Two of the men that dad put away are on the loose. I'm sure that the police have kept them confined to Anima, but I thought that you would probably want to know.*
The article avoided specific details on purpose to prevent any initial panic, who had escaped and how they had been able to was omitted from the story, Stratford didn't want people to be under the impression that the police or military wasn't capable of handling threats in Mistral. She read it over repeatedly, searching the internet for any more information that was available, but it all appeared vague and removed. She sighed, her feet swinging lightly as she stared out at the stars and searched them.
"How will they catch these men without you here?" She asked the night sky. "Nobody in Mistral even comes close to your ability anymore."
"You doing okay Elli?" Neela asked as she began climbing the tree, Eliana moved over to let Neela join her on the branch, and she nodded her head.
"Yeah, I was just doing some thinking," Eliana told her. "I didn't think that it was time for us to switch out already." Neela looked at the celestial bodies with her and laughed under her breath.
"Time almost seems to pass differently when you're out here alone with your thoughts. It's so peaceful and serene, it almost doesn't seem like real life, though since you used to live here, I'm guessing you don't really get that feeling," Neela prodded.
"It's more surreal for me than anything," Eliana told her. "Coming back here after such a long time, it seems more like I was here once in a dream." Neela glanced at her.
"Are you doing okay?" Neela asked her. Eliana smiled and nodded before it faded and Neela wrapped her arms around her. Neela knew that it was the only thing that Eliana struggled with, and being here probably elicited memories that Eliana kept under the surface for the most part.
"I'll be okay," Eliana replied. "I've got you here with me, that's always more than enough." Neela felt euphoric as she held Eliana tight, Eliana struggling to break free after a moment of laughter and she leapt to the ground, Neela landing on the ground next to her. "Ready for your shift?" Neela nodded her head and sat at the base of the tree, removing her scroll and searching through her contacts.
"I'll see you in the morning, Elli!" Neela called to her softly to keep from waking her teammates.
"See you little hawk!" Eliana replied as she bounded away. Neela placed her scroll to her ear, waiting for the other side to pick up for three rings before they did.
"Hey Neela, what's going on?" Blake asked groggily as she answered and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. Yang rolled away from her, prompting Blake to swing her legs off of the bed and cover her other ear. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't want to freak you out," Neela told her. "I know it's late, I just wanted to call and see how you and mom were doing."
"That's all huh?" Blake asked with a smirk on her face that Neela could hear.
"I guess I could have called in the morning, I just wasn't sure how busy I was going to be tomorrow and so I wanted to call you tonight," Neela told her.
"Neela," Blake replied sternly. Neela brushed her hair back.
"What?" Neela asked.
"I know why you're calling Neela," Blake told her. Neela frowned, reaching up and feeling the necklace that Shadow had made her which made her feel a bit calmer.
"I'm sorry mom. I know that you're busy and I really didn't want to mess up your sleep schedule but I needed to talk to either you or Yang. I'm not normally this far away from family," Neela confessed. Blake chuckled.
"You can call us whenever you need to Neela, don't think that you're ever a nuisance to either of us. You never could be, your our daughter and if you need to call us, call us," Blake informed her. "I'm glad that you called me, I meant to call you earlier today but I want you to know that you can't possibly know just how proud we are of you. You can do it Neela, I know you can. We both know you can."
"Thanks, mom," Neela replied with a smile. "We'll get these bandits and then we'll be home as soon as we can." Blake yawned and looked back at Yang.
"Glad to hear it Neela," Blake told her. "I'm going to try and get some sleep but try to call us in the morning, okay?"
"I will. Good night mom, I love you," Neela said.
"I love you too," Blake replied before hanging up. Neela sat in silence, still clinging to the necklace and taking a deep breath. She could do this. She looked at the picture of her and Eliana that she had for her background and sighed happily. She was enjoying the trip and they'd be back before anyone even noticed that they were gone. They'd catch the bandits, get a passing grade, and have nothing left to worry about until finals. She set her phone down beside her before hearing something snap nearby and she froze up for a moment, moving to her feet and glancing around. Before Neela could use her semblance to sweep the area someone covered her mouth from behind and she panicked, inhaling deeply to try and scream, but passed out from the chemical on the rag the person held.
What's happening?! This can't be how I die! How was I reckless enough to…
"I think that you have honestly and truly made a mistake this time Apophis," a voice said that Neela didn't recognize. She was slowly coming to but she kept her eyes closed, hoping that she'd get some insight before trying to jump them.
"Honey, for the last time, I can smell that she's a Faunus!" A man's voice insisted replying to the female. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before Apophis spoke again. "What did she say?"
"Lueur asked what feature of her is Faunus then?" Honey replied. Apophis groaned and took a few steps away from where she was laying.
"I don't know, she just smells like one of us!" He defended. Honey chuckled as she sat down.
"By that logic, maybe we should go recruit Zilla, because she smells heavily of Faunus, or did you forget that she's trying to kill us?" Honey asked. Neela opened her eyes, directly above her stood a girl about her age with long white hair and ice blue eyes, her head was tilted slightly and she blinked a few times before looking over at her comrades and pointing frantically at Neela without saying a word. A black mask that was probably meant to cover her face was bunched up at her collar and she wore a grayish blue three-quarter sleeved coat that had yellow detailing and an off-white fur hood. Neela noted the fingerless gloves that extended up into her coat, wondering if they were possibly a part of the undershirt itself. Black leggings that ended in boots that matched her coat, topped with fur and wrapped with gray tape. A belt made of gray silk and one made of black beads tied it all together with a long, bluish gray, maxi skirt with a slit up both legs, her snow leopard tail protruding from the back a waving gently from side to side.. Neela looked towards where the girl was directing her attention.
"She's awake!" Exclaimed Apophis behind Neela. Neela rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she watched the one she assumed was Honey walk over to her. Her gold hair was a touch less than shoulder length, the right side longer than the left and two bunny ears that seemed to match her hair color protruded from the top of her head. Her bronze eyes seemed kind enough, not those of a kidnapper, and her long, flowing orange scarf seemed to compliment them well. She wore a black tank top with a white crop top jacket that was left unbuttoned, brown pants and a white belt with gold studs, a satchel hung on each hip from off of the belt and appeared to be used for storing Dust canisters. Lastly, her black knee-high boots matched her elbow-length black gloves, both had light armor plates that were gold, though the gauntlets themselves appeared to have the ability to be Honey's weapon, each had two slots that were barely visible closer to the elbow that would be large enough to fit Dust crystals in.
"I'm so sorry about Apophis grabbing you from where ever you were, but he was in rough shape last night and wasn't himself. You'll forgive us, right?" Honey asked as she reached out a hand to help Neela stand. Neela nodded slowly as she was still trying to process everything that she was taking in and she took Honey's hand, standing and stumbling slightly towards Lueur who threw her hands up in surprise and leapt back, leaving Apophis to catch her. "So are you, in fact, a Faunus, or is my brute here going crazy?"
"Yeah," Neela stammered. "I'm a Faunus. My eyes are my feature." Lueur shoved past Honey and stood inches from Neela, looking deep into her eyes in examination. "Is she okay?" Neela glanced around, the tent was large, it contained a table with drawings scattered about on it, several bedrolls, and a corner that was curtained off for changing.
"Jeez, where are my manners? Her name is Lueur Glace and from what she's told me, it is a bit of a long story," Honey said. "There was an avalanche a few years ago, and in the aftermath, she and her family were attacked by raiders. The men left her badly injured and she lost the ability to speak." Neela looked at her confused.
"An avalanche here?" Neela asked. Lueur took a step back, shaking her head and using her hands to sign quickly as Neela watched her befuddled. She finished with a smile that quickly devolved as she noted the confusion on Neela's face. She sighed and looked back at Honey and waved her arms towards Neela.
"Lueur is from the far northern regions of Atlas. She only came here recently to try and escape the 'less than desirable' working conditions that the Dust mines are known for towards Faunus." Honey explained. She looked away with glossy eyes. "Instead she ended up in this hell hole and running for her life on a pretty daily basis." Lueur walked to Honey, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her chin with her finger, stroking Honey's hair with her hand as they rested their foreheads on one another. "She's right though. If she hadn't come here, we never would have met."
"I don't suppose you were planning on telling her who I am?" Apophis asked, still standing behind Neela to make sure she didn't fall over. Neela turned around to look at him with an apologetic smile for forgetting he was there. He was wearing a black shirt with a leather apron like tunic that provided the top of him with armor, the shirt itself disappeared into his tan colored pants that were tethered from the knee down revealing dark green scales on his legs that were horribly scarred up, though some of the wounds were bleeding yet. A single, thick ponytail with a French braid emerged from the top of his hairless head, resting gently in front of his right shoulder, and he wore leather bracers with tape consuming his hands. His dark green eyes appeared dull despite carrying happiness within them.
"Apophis Limos," Honey said as she released Lueur from her embrace and walked around the man to slap him hard on the shoulder. "A bit thick skinned. Was on vacation by himself from Vacuo when he was attacked by the bandits. They scarred his legs pretty bad as you can see and left him for dead on the side of the main road leading out of Shion. That's where Lueur and I found him. We did what we could but he doesn't have aura and neither of us is too experienced in medical know how."
"If I had my bag with me, I could patch him up," Neela told them. "I have some wrap bandages and I could even activate his aura." They all looked at Neela wide-eyed before glancing at one another.
"You can do that?!" Honey asked. She laughed and looked at the three of them.
"I thought that it was common knowledge that huntsmen and huntresses could unlock each other's aura," Neela told them. She looked at their leader. "And what about you Honey, what's your story?"
"I'm not really sure who my parents were or what my name really was, I've been an orphan since I was a baby. I was dropped off at a church in a basket east of here, there was no name to identify me as, so the priest took to calling me Honey because it was the one food that could get me to stop crying when I ate it. Grimm attacked the church and I've been running ever since. I lived on the streets for a while, doing odd jobs until I could at least afford these clothes, my gloves are made from old Atlas tech that I modified," Honey told her with a somber look in her eyes. It dissipated and she smiled at Neela. "But the good news is, we have your bag!"
"What?" Neela asked. Honey turned to Lueur.
"The girl's bag, stat!" Honey commanded. Lueur stood at attention, saluting Honey with her tongue sticking out before vanishing into an invisible portal to retrieve it. "I'm sorry, I just realized that I don't know your name."
"Neela Xiao Long… Why would you grab my bag?" Neela asked.
"We thought that you could help us out, though I didn't exactly think that Apophis would knock you out in order to get you to come with us," Honey replied as she sat down on the blanket lying on the floor. She crossed her legs and tilted her head. "Did he at least ask first?"
"Not exactly," Neela laughed off.
"Apophis! Not only can you not hunt, but you have the worst people skills of all time," Honey scolded. Apophis waved his arms.
"I was in pain, she looked like she could help!" He tried shouting in defense. Honey shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose, looking up at Neela as she cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry, you all seem like a pretty nice group of Faunus, but I need to get back to my team in Shion," Neela told them. Honey scrambled to her feet and grabbed Neela.
"Please don't leave! We need someone who can help take care of us when the bandits attack!" Honey exclaimed. Lueur reappeared behind her with Neela's sack and what Neela told her processed, causing her to take a step back. "Wait, did you say team?"
"Yes, I'm a huntress from Vale that was sent here on the request of a distress signal from a scroll," Neela explained. Honey's eyes lit up and she looked back at Lueur, grabbing her by the hands and bouncing up and down.
"It worked Lueur, they're here to help us!" Honey exclaimed. Lueur's hands moved frantically with purpose, a questioning look on her face and Honey nodded turning Lueur's face to shock. "Exactly! My device must have worked!"
"You sent the signal?" Neela asked. Honey stopped celebrating abruptly and ran to Neela, grabbing her hands.
"Yes! There is a group of bandits that have been chasing us for a couple of years and every time that a new Faunus comes into the area, they make it a point to chase them out or kill them! Apophis and Lueur were lucky to get away, but others weren't so lucky. I guess that nobody would have told you back in town, they pretty much own the place and you don't exactly look like a Faunus at first glance," Honey told her. "We have to keep you away from Zilla, you have a feature that she hasn't collected yet."
"What do you mean by collected?" Neela asked.
"We'd rather not talk about it," Apophis told her. Neela glanced back at him before Honey yanked on her hands and forced her to look back.
"You can go get the other Faunus and we'll go show these bandits that we're done with being pushed around!" Honey yelled. Lueur threw her hands in the air and leapt up and down.
"Other Faunus?" Neela asked not quite following.
"Your teammates!" Honey explained. Neela freed her hands and Honey hesitantly looked her in the eyes.
"My teammates are human, but…" Neela began. Honey's ears flopped and Lueur stopped celebrating as her tail stopped sweeping to and fro, her eyes lost the light and she began walking away. Honey turned back to stop Lueur but the snow leopard teleported away. "They're good people, they care about Faunus." Honey nodded as she groaned.
"I'm sure they are Neela," Honey said. "But Lueur and I have spent most of our lives fearing them. I want to believe that there are good ones out there, but I don't know that Lueur would be okay with it. I'd have a hard enough time with it." She handed Neela's bag back to her and nodded slightly. "I don't suppose that there's any chance that you can stay with us?" Neela slung her bag on her shoulder and shook her head. She wanted to help them, but she needed to get back to her team if she really wanted to help them.
"The best way that I can help at this point is if I go back to my team," Neela told her. Neela turned around and nodded at Apophis and was greeted by a teary-eyed Lueur as she opened the tent flaps. Lueur signed something to her and stamped her foot when Neela didn't understand, looking past Neela at Honey, her eyes pleading for help. "What did she say?"
"She wants to know if you'll at least bandage up Apophis before you go," Honey replied, her voice flat. Neela nodded, it was the least that she could do.
"Sure, I can do that Lueur," Neela said. Lueur nodded in thanks and Neela turned back to him.
A huge special thanks to SketchHungry for letting me use her characters in our story! If you've been in the fandom for some time you probably recognize the name and if you haven't you should definitely go check out her art on Tumblr and Twitter!
It looks like Coco and the rest of NITE are on the hunt for Neela? She doesn't seem to be in danger, but will they realize that before attacking? Next week, Chapter 77 - Friendly Spar!
A big thank you to Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, 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!