Significant Changes: 1 completely new scene has been added. 1 scene has been moved up to Chapter 7.
Original chapter length: 1,183
Revisited chapter length: 2,828
"Regular dialogue" [Faunus speech only]
Chapter 6
With the sunrise came breakfast. Docile and distracted, the four women exhaustedly tended to their own meals in peace. Weiss tended towards nutritious meals in the morning along with her coffee. Ruby favored sweet things along with a glass of milk or hot chocolate. Yang had a tendency to fish around for leftovers, while Blake preferred her breakfast freshly cooked.
With such a contrast in tastes, it was a wonder they could exist in the kitchen together at all. There was only one unfortunate problem. Even if they weren't trying to make a mess, it had certainly turned into one. The kitchen was in complete disarray by the time everyone was done taking a meal. Today, Weiss had the task of cleaning up, or so stated the calendar. The dubious red markings seemed out of place, but the white haired woman chose not to argue about it. Yang had enough on her mind that Weiss pitied her, and did the household chore without complaint.
Blake noticed the tension in the air.
It seemed like everyone was walking on eggshells. No one seemed to want to disrupt the delicate balance, not with Yang so tightly coiled. The Faunus could understand why. The slightest disagreement was likely to become a powder keg at a moment's notice, but even so, she was nonplused by that notion. In fact, it might do some good for Yang to lose her temper a little. Blake observed the situation as she sipped at her morning tea. The blonde was certainly justified to have her emotions, whatever those might happen to be.
A lack of sound sleep hadn't helped, either.
"Yang, the shower's free." Ruby called from down the hallway as her bedroom door opened and closed behind her.
"Got it." Yang called back, though she didn't make an effort to move from her place on the sofa. Instead, she chose not to move, blankly watching the news network. The baby was nestled in her arms, the two of them quite cozy after a nearly sleepless night.
"I'll watch her." Blake said, breaking the silence. "You should probably go get ready."
"Hmm." Came the non-committal answer. "You sure?" Yang asked, her eyes glued to the television.
"You're stalling…" Blake deadpanned, knowing that Yang needed a little push. If it happened to set her off her temper, then perhaps it would be for the better. Bottling everything down just wasn't healthy.
"Damn it, Blake I'm not stalling." Yang muttered with a roll of her eyes. an uneasy smile ghosted across her lips, too weak to even stay in place. "I'm just making sure I'm not needed for anything."
"Well, you're not needed right now, so move your ass." Blake bit out, chomping down on her own anxieties. They wouldn't do any good at this point. Even if she knew that logically, the hair stood up on the back of her neck regardless. The best she could do was rationalize the worry away, burying it deeper by the second. "The longer it takes for you to get ready to leave, the longer it'll take to go get that test done."
"I know." Yang said, grinding the words between her teeth.
"Then don't make this any harder than it has to be." Blake told her friend with an edge of exasperation. "Give her to me, I'll watch her…"
It was a statement of fact, little more…
Yet, it cemented Blake's fate as the current keeper of the tiny Faunus. Yang reluctantly passing the girl along before slowly making her way across the hall. In truth, Blake wasn't entirely sure what to do with someone so small in her care. Especially when the young Faunus was looking up at her expectantly.
With Yang headed for the shower, Ruby getting dressed, and Weiss in the kitchen, she didn't have much of an option.
It wasn't that Blake truly opposed the whims of the baby cat Faunus. No, rather it was that she had never once thought to consider the shared bond that they had. Something that inherently came with being a Faunus of the same species. They were both of the feline variety. That meant the baby shared more in common with Blake than most humans would realize.
It was a very special commonality, something she'd never be able to share with her other teammates.
[Kin.] A mew.
[Not kin.] A simple glare.
There was an inherent strangeness to it, and she couldn't help but feel confused when a little hand clung to her finger. Faunus had perceptions that could reach well beyond that of a human, and Faunus young had advantages among their own kind. Abilities that a human baby would simply never have.
[Kin?] Another mew followed by an ear flicking against the arm cradling her head. The tightening of her little fingers, squeezing so softly. Her scent was innocent at best, completely naive at worst. [Mine?]
[No.] A soft growl in agitation. [Not yours.] Her persisting glare hardened further. [Not kin.]
But, those big red eyes gazing up at her in confusion couldn't comprehend that. The elder Faunus couldn't help but feel equally conflicted. What was she to do with this tiny soul? She had promised Yang that she would help, but, where was the line?
How much help, was too much help?
Blake could easily discern each tiny expression, and comprehend every feline noise that such a small child could make. In return, she could respond to the baby in a language all their own. Blake could form such a carefully crafted bond, if she truly wanted.
[Kin…] A tiny wine, almost soundless.
[Not kin.] Another growl.
The problem was, Blake really didn't want to. It wasn't her place to try and forge the sort of kinship that this baby looked for. Childlike and entirely dependent on relatives to raise her. She called for the ties that mattered most, offspring in search of a parent, or at the very least, a littermate. Yet, this girl had none of that. A single child, her kinfolk only human.
That alone was tragic…
Faunus tended to abandon their animal-like behavior as they grew older, and Blake had long cast hers aside. Like many, her Faunus identity was something she had personally divorced from her animalistic traits and behaviors. It was part of her, sure, but it was a small part that would never define her personhood. She had let go of it the moment she was able to. Her traits and tendencies were now echoes of her past, or at the very least, fiercely protected urges that she rarely ever let show.
Unfortunately, there was no way to get a Faunus so young to possibly understand such a human concepts.
Instead, the baby would continue to speak out, expecting a response. The little one couldn't be completely to blame. She was only following her nose, and what her young instincts would allow. Families smelled alike, it was one important truth that Raven had left behind. Yang shared that familial scent inherently.
Passed from mother to daughter. Shared between elder sibling and baby alike.
Unfortunately, the entire house smelled a little like Yang. Everything she touched carried the faintest hint of her existence. As such, Blake also smelled like Yang. It was easy to conclude by smell alone, Blake was kin. If not by blood and bone, than by the binding ties of scent itself. A declaration among Faunus, meant only for their kind. Even if the complexities were lost on the child, her nose didn't lie.
It couldn't.
Still, it was such a simple way to perceive the world, and it wasn't always correct. Yet, a baby Faunus could not be expected to understand it any other way.
[Kin…] A purr.
[Not! Kin!] Blake finally snarled which prompted a baby's cry.
"What in god's name is going on in here?" Weiss asked, a sudsy plate in one hand and a towel over her shoulder.
Hearing that voice was like being doused with freezing cold water, snapping Blake out of the aggravated state that she had been in. "It's nothing of import, Weiss." Blake sighed then, the crying baby still in her arms. "You can finish up in the kitchen."
"First there was a yowling match this morning, and now this…" Weiss sighed with a roll of her eyes as she turned and walked back into the other room. "You two are going to drive me crazy if you keep that up."
Blake rubbed her face tiredly. "Damn it…" It was occasionally frustrating to be a lone Faunus in a household full a humans. However it was nowhere near as frustrating as trying to contend with the obvious nature of her heritage. A long suffering sigh later, and the baby was still crying.
That just wouldn't do.
[Hush now.] Blake sounded ever so softly under her breath. It was completely inaudible to humans, as it worked from the back of her throat. [Hush. You're alright...]
Later that afternoon, Weiss was finally free to have a moment of peace. The house blissfully quiet outside of the conversation going on over her new scroll.
"Naturally, I would have gone with them, too." She said to the woman on the other end. "However, I have this finical nightmare to deal with instead."
"That sounds rather unfortunate." Pyrrha said, holding her scroll up and away from the light of the sun. She was away on another mission, this one much closer to home. A small horde of bug Grimm were making a nest in someone's basement. She was on her way to clear them out. "Is it really so bad?"
"Well, it certainly isn't good. I'll say that." Weiss told her. "How can they expect me to keep the books balanced when they make these kinds of expenditures?"
"Babies can be expensive…"
"Yes, yes, of course they are…" Weiss groused unhappily. "Usually I would budget for an expensive proposition of some sort. The problem is that I had to tack on two new scrolls on top of everything else this month. It's blown the budget entirely, and tax season is coming up." Weiss said tapping away at her work terminal at the kitchen table. "I'm not made of money anymore, and this is ridiculous."
"It sounds complicated." Pyrrha replied. "I wish Ruby or Blake would have called us. If they were struggling so much, I could have sent Jaune over to help."
"Jaune?" Weiss asked with a hint of incredulity. "Please tell me that you're joking…"
"Well, he is an uncle." Pyrrha posed confidently. "Several times over, in fact."
"Well, he does have seven sisters." Weiss sighed, concluding that it should have been expected. "It would be alarming if he didn't have a niece or nephew at this point."
"Number ten is already on the way, he doesn't know the gender yet, but you should see our mailbox. It's filled with letters." Pyrrha laughed "Come to think of it, he's very good with children. He'd likely make a better father than a huntsman."
"Good lord, ten of them already?" Weiss balked. "How did that even happen?"
"The same way it always happens, if I were to presume…" Pyrrha told her with only the slightest blush at the thought of it. "He has seven siblings, is it so hard to believe that some of them have readily established their own families at this point?"
"You're right, of course." Weiss nodded, offering her own little interesting tidbit. "In any case, it seems that we don't need as much help as you might have thought. We're managing fairly well on our own. It's quite surprising, really."
"How so?"
"Since they're both Faunus, Blake seems to understand her. Although I'm not entirely sure how…" Weiss explained setting the budget aside to regard Pyrrha through the small screen. "I've learned to stop asking Faunus related questions. Blake's answers baffle me anyway. Then again, with the baby around, I'm almost inclined to start asking them again. The two of them have been interesting to listen to…"
"What have you been listening to, exactly?" Pyrrha prompted, seeing the small moment of apprehension on her friend's face.
"Well, as racist as it may sound, cats…"
"You mean the stray cats?" Pyrrha asked, befuddled. "As in the felines?"
Cup of warm coffee in hand, Weiss took a sip and shook her head. "As in Faunus. Blake and the baby keep making strange sounds. It's almost as if they were cats communicating. Pyrrha, I promise you, I wish I was being as crass as I'm sure I sound."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far. It is strange to hear such a claim." Pyrrha admitted, almost wincing.
"I swear it." Weiss told her seriously, only a hint of humor in her tone. "I woke up to the sounds of two cats fighting this morning. I honestly thought there were actual cats arguing on the dumpsters again. It sounded too close, and so I got up to inspect it. Then, Blake and the baby started arguing again after breakfast."
"That's…" Pyrrha cut herself off and looked around. In truth, she didn't dare think about it. Doing so could be considered an insult to the Faunus. She had always thought herself to be a voice for good. An activist for the people who could not defend themselves. Many Faunus fell well below the poverty line. Still, if it were true… "Well, that's rather remarkable."
"I know." Weiss said, no venom in her voice in the slightest. Just fact, and the slightest bit of good humor. "I've heard Blake purr before, she does that in her sleep. I just never knew how….vocal…Faunus could be. It's alarming when you least expect it…" Then, something else popped into her mind. "This is an entirely hypothetical question, but since the baby is a Faunus, would Yang be able to claim her as a dependent?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Vale's tax laws are different from Atlas." Weiss said. "Vastly so."
"Hmm, well wouldn't you know, I haven't the foggiest idea." Pyrrha said thoughtfully. "I mean, I would certainly hope so. If Yang is the older sister, as everyone seems to think."
"See in Atlas, that wouldn't matter. Atlas doesn't offer the legal guardians of Faunus any sort of services monetarily." Weiss explained. "It doesn't matter how you might be related. Atlas has never once thought to include any protection for Faunus youth."
Pyrrha chose to tactfully switch gears away from such places. "If I may be so bold, if this is to be a permanent arrangement, it might be better to have someone formally adopt her. Vale gives much more consideration to single parents who happen to be hunters. For example, from what I understand, a hunter's medical coverage does not extend to a child in the case of siblings."
"Only parents to offspring?"
"Yes. At least, that's what I have come to understand." Pyrrha nodded. "Then again, given the nature of the profession…"
"Yes, but wouldn't that be true even if Yang would be her legal guardian?" Weiss queried, eyebrow upraised.
"That would depend on the parents. Vale may award custody of the child to someone named in the will and wishes of the deceased." Pyrrha said after a moment to think further on the topic. "Did the child's parents even have one written? If not, then that may change things, too."
"Something to look into, then." Weiss murmured more to herself than to Pyrrha. "On another note, you should stop by for a visit after your mission. I'm sure we'd be able to talk Blake into some three handed pinochle."
"Oh, and I do love a good game of cards." Pyrrha said hopefully. "I have some choice wine to bring. It was sent to me by my parents just last week. It's far too much for one person. Perhaps you would be inclined to drink it with me? I'd ask Jaune, but he's not fond of the beverage, and you know how Nora is…"
"If you can't put it in a shot glass it isn't strong enough, and if it doesn't have with an umbrella, she wants nothing to do with it. She's just like Yang in that aspect." Weiss said knowingly. "What about Ren? He likes wine, doesn't he?"
"A little, but, he drinks rarely. Also, our flavor interests differ greatly, or so I've noticed. He didn't grow up on wine at the dinner table as you and I did as children. His tastes revolve distinctly on whatever can be used for cooking."
Weiss laughed at that. "I suppose that makes sense. I'd be happy to drink it with you. A quiet evening around here might do us all a bit of good. Although, that being said, planting a seedling in Nora's ear about getting Yang out of the house…" Weise trailed off as Pyrrha began to smile.
"I understand." Pyrrha agreed sympathetically. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you." Weiss said offering a soft smile of her own.