Significant Changes: Completely new content in this chapter.
Original chapter length: 1,374 Revisited chapter length: 2,828
"Regular dialogue" [Faunus speech only]
AYangThang: Next week, we resume double updates as some old content resurfaces.
Chapter 12
Blake's mission took her to downtown Vale. Beyond the pier, and docks alike. She walked far along the waterfront. The area smelled of the sea, the breeze carrying the scent of the changing tides. The area she was headed towards wasn't glamorous. The homes dotting this side of the coast were even worse off than her own. It was a place below the poverty line. Shops were small, poorly stocked. Graffiti slathered brick and pavement alike. Gang signs and calling cards elaborately painted where eyes would see it most. White Fang propaganda plastered itself everywhere, three white slashes left in the dark corners of the city, an invitation.
Beggars dotted the streets. Some chose to perform, others sat helplessly, waiting for a willing handout. She knew many of the faces as regulars at the nearly food kitchens. Most were Faunus, a few were human. All of them down on their luck.
To many they were seen as filth, frowned upon for clogging up the otherwise prosperous kingdom. The fates of these people were almost guaranteed. Those who couldn't find honest work would be forced into dishonest trade. If a person couldn't earn a living wage, they would succumb to the heartbeat of the streets.
Each day, a fight to survive.
Beyond the small shambles of a residential district there was a restricted area. The toll road was guarded, and only allowed those employed by Beacon Academy to pass by unchecked. Nearby commercial buildings kept their storage here, and only a few workers had clearance to pass into the warehouse district.
Groups of hunters gathered along the storage units and the many docks. The chatter waned as documents were passed around, softer murmurs taking the place of what used to be a dull roar. When the stack of papers were handed to her, Blake took the first stapled packet off the top of the stack. Then, she passed them on. The huntress behind her doing the same.
With her list of orders firmly in hand, it was time to get to work.
She'd be stationed in warehouse B. She began packing the supply crates that would need to be sent out immediately. In fairness, checking supplies and packing them up for shipping was an easy mission. Commonplace, and one of the many menial labors expected of those with full-fledged hunting licenses. Some thought themselves above the task. Yet, it proved to be invaluable for all huntsmen and huntresses across Remnant.
Hundreds of taverns, inns, medical outposts, and outlying villages dotted the landscape. They needed those supplies, and the hunters expected them to have adequate stock.
Men and Women in service to the kingdoms often walked the paths on foot. Each stop provided meals, ammunition, and a place to rest. Without such simple pleasures, many wouldn't likely be inclined to travel very far at all. A single person out in the wilderness alone would go mad, and teams tended to travel light. Restocking a wealth of supplies early and often, a hunter could focus more comfortably upon their missions. Having a place to rest made the difference between a readily acceptable mission, and one that would likely be rejected.
Having made the journey out on the open road several times herself, Blake knew the importance of steadfast supplies. Clean water, hot meals, and plenty of soap. She was careful with her signatures. Each box only received one after she had approved the contents, and its intended location. The cargo bay was filled with working huntsmen and huntresses, packing, approving, and loading the crates onto waiting aircrafts. Piolets were arriving, and caravans began to collect just outside the warehouse, waiting for a huntsman to accompany them.
Beside her, Pyrrha and Nora had their own mission assignment. Nora was to load the aircrafts, and Pyrrha was to secure each crate with functioning parachute. Ruby had been here since this morning, arguing with other documented team leaders about the safest routes to use.
It was just an average low paying day down at the docks.
Blake thought very little of it, focused entirely on her assignment when a cool bottle of water touched her shoulder.
"Hey, when was the last time you took a break?" Ruby asked her. "You look a little dehydrated."
"I'm not the only one." Blake said, slicking away the sweat on her brow and guzzling down the water in the bottle. The plastic crinkling under her grip. "It's hot in here, and you look exhausted."
"I taking a break now, aren't I? Though, I am pretty tired." Ruby admitted leaning heavily on the crate. Ink stained her fingertips, and her face was also moistened with sweat. "Most of my job is done at this point, all of the routes have been plotted. I've just got to wait for the escorts to arrive so that they can be briefed. As long as everyone shows up, then I'm free to do go."
"Lucky." Blake muttered almost under her breath. "I have about ten more of these to finish, then I think I'm moving stations."
"No, you aren't."
"I'm not?"
"Don't let any of the team leaders move you. I've already made my orders on that clear." Ruby explained, taking the clipboard from Blake and glancing over the rest of her assigned tasks. "If you run out of work to do, help the teams loading up the ship."
"Warehouses C and D are falling behind. Warehouse E is already going to be delayed a day." Blake said. "I was supposed to go help the other warehouses get up to speed."
"That's not my problem." She said, handing the clipboard back after jotting down a note in red ink. "I need you here with me in case one of the teams don't show. We've got a lot of first timers signed up, I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them are no-shows."
"You really think that'll happen?" Blake asked, reading the words 'no transfer' on Blake's mission papers.
"Nope…" Her knuckles knocked the side of the crate before shrugging and looking away. Her eyes drifting to the other hunters milling about. "Then again, I can't be too sure, either. There's a few forth year Beacon teams on this list. Wouldn't be the first time a few teams flunked out."
"Isn't that the truth…" Blake muttered. "Either way, it's going to be a late night."
"Yep." Ruby sighed, popping the word between her lips. "That's what happens when people fall behind. Most of the other leaders are in agreement. We get all the shipments out in Warehouses A and B tonight, and pick up the slack of everyone else tomorrow. I'm going to go help the others that are falling behind." As Ruby began to head off, she turned around, calling over her shoulder. "Meet me by the meal truck when it gets here, we can grab some dinner together."
It was as simple a promise as any, but Blake felt the smile tug at her lips all the same.
As promised they both met up for dinner at the meal truck. The few hours that had passed seemed short compared to the hours they knew waited ahead of them.
"Loading crew is about five hours behind." Blake observed while sitting at an old picnic table, a bottle of water in hand.
"Yeah, I know." Ruby said distractedly. "Nothing we can do about that. Refueling and maintenance takes about that long on the larger aircrafts anyway."
Blake glanced over to Ruby, seeing her nose buried in mission documents. It wasn't an uncommon sight. Ruby took her work as a huntress very seriously. Her profession was one of the few things she had ever been so passionate about. Unfortunately that same passion didn't come to her as easily when faced with the mounds of paperwork that demanded her attention. Being the assigned leader in a team a four meant that she needed to sign off on every project that any of her teammates ever accepted. There was no end to the steady stream of approvals and referrals that changed hands weekly.
The Faunus couldn't help but watch the way the pen slid across the paper. Chin resting in her palm and fork poking absently at her salad. "So much for taking a break, huh…"
"This is about as much of a break as I'm going to get today." Ruby said, taking a bite of her sandwich and sloppily filling out an approval form for Yang's newest mission request. Her handwriting had never been as elegant as she would have liked. "I've said it before, I'll say it again, there's something to be said for the way Atlas runs things."
"Don't say that to Ozpin, he'll have you cleaning out filing cabinets for months."
"Maybe someone should…" Ruby trailed off. "This nightmare is just from today."
"Is all that Yang's?"
"No, actually." Ruby told her. "Most of it is yours."
Feeling more than a little guilty, two black ears wilted at the thought of putting Ruby though so much trouble. "Sorry…" Blake murmured, stabbing at her lettuce and cursing herself for accepting the sort of work that she did. Charity meant documenting everything. Every last penny spent by the government needed to be accounted for.
"Don't be."
"If I didn't take so many charity cases, you wouldn't be saddled with all those extra forms." Blake told her, looking down at Ruby's mostly untouched meal. Her sandwich was half gone, but the small soup bowl and salad plate had gone on untouched. "Put those away for a bit. You're entitled to breaks too. If you don't get to all of those requests today, you can get to them tomorrow."
"I wish I could, but I can't. I need to get these finished and sent to Ozpin today. If I don't Weiss and Yang won't hit the mission rosters until next week. We can't afford to bench either one of them for that long."
"So, do theirs and ignore yours and mine."
Ruby just rolled her eyes, taking another bite of her sandwich and continuing to jot down information in the blank spaces. "I'm finishing this stack today while I can." She glanced up at Blake, meeting those concerned amber eyes with clear intent. "It's my job to do this right."
"That stack looks thicker than usual." Blake said, her protein drink halfway to her lips as her free hand thumbed through the papers.
"There's no team missions this week. It's all solo sign-ups." Ruby told her. "Plus, Yang's taking a few more missions than usual to compensate for Ace. Weiss is doing the same to get some extra cash into the account. I think Yang's right. That roof is going to be costly."
"I wish you would have told me, I would have taken a few more day jobs off the board."
"That's why I didn't ask you to." Ruby said, closing Yang's packet and sealing it in an envelope. "My recertification is this week. If our team wants to stay on the rosters for field work, I've got to go." She finished the last bite of her sandwich, pulling the plastic lid off of the soup bowl. "You're going to need to stay with Ace. You couldn't have taken more work even if you wanted to."
"Guess that's what I get for pulling in the least amount of money on any given week." Blake said softly, a note of humor in her voice. "Regulated to babysitter, just great…"
It was well after midnight when two tired huntresses stumbled into the house. Wordlessly, they kicked off their shoes and parted ways to find their separate beds. Loathe though she was to admit her own exhaustion, a shower would wait until the morning. Blake crept into her room soundlessly. Shucking off her clothes with little more than the rustling of fabric to disturb the woman snoring away in the other bed.
Yang was known to be a heavy sleeper, but Ace had the keen hearing of her heritage. Blake knew, even one wrong step could wake the slumbering child. Sinking into her bed without a peep, she closed her eyes. A long exhale slipped from her lips as she buried her face into her pillow. The haze of sleep began to claim her. The feather pillow and soft sheets were heaven.
The peaceful late night hours never lasted for very long.
[Kin…] A soft mew called out at the late night hour, disturbing the relative tranquility that the dead of night brought along with it. No one answered the tiny Faunus, left to her lonesome within the dark room.
[Kin…] She mewed again, looking for her reply. Her little nose twitched when she took a sniff. She wasn't entirely alone. They were around somewhere. Her sensitive hearing could pick up the soft sounds of breath, the rustle of blankets. Signs of life, but, no sign of warmth.
[Kin…] Maybe they didn't hear her. She let out another small, curious mew.
[Kin.] And another... [Kin.] And another… [Kin.] And another…
[Kin?] A change in pitch. Where were they?
[Kin?] Confusion. Why weren't they coming to greet her?
[Kin?!] Fear. Again, there came no reply.
A baby's cry rang out into the darkness when her calls went unanswered. An agitated groan reaching her small ears as she heard signs of someone moving around off to the side.
[Shut up.] Blake growled sleepily.
Wet crimson eyes looked up to the hand flailing around above the bassinette, finding the pacifier and sticking it back into her mouth. Ace growled around the awful pacifier. That wasn't what she wanted, not at all. She spat it out unhappily. She looked at it, offering a nearly silent hiss of air at the offending object detailing her displeasure.
No, she didn't want that, she wanted to be held.
[Kin?] Another mew.
[No.] And another annoyed growl.
[Kin.] Ace persisted.
[Hush.] Blake was steadfast.
[I'm scared.] A plaintive yowl.
A long suffering sigh, and Blake forced herself to lift her head from her pillow. "Damn it… Yang, wake up."
"Hmm?"
"Come get your sister out of this stupid basket before I brain you."
"Mmm." Yang mumbled, rolling over to slip back into dreamland.
"Oh, no you don't…" Blake snarled as Ace yowled again. Grabbing the first book she found on her nightstand, the elder Faunus set it flying it at the sleeping blonde.
"Ah!" She cried out as the book hit its mark. The corner of the thick tome digging into her scalp. "What the hell was that for?"
"Wake up." Blake shot back. "Ace is awake. I told you not to stick her in bassinette. You did it, now you pace the house with her…" It was only after Yang tripped on a pile of her own clothes and hit the floor face-first that Blake came to a crude, sleep-deprived conclusion…
Humans were idiots…
It was only several hours, a long nap, a relaxing shower, and hot coffee later that Blake was better able to ponder the wayward thought. They weren't idiots, far from it. They simply didn't understand. Ace was a mystery to them, and there was no way to teach them to communicate with her. It wasn't that they were trying to be cruel, but their perceptions deceived them.
A soft mew could mean a wide range of things, the subtle inflection and body language could carry a great deal of weight when joined together when joined together with scent. It was like a sentence structure, strung together expertly. Without all of the cues at their disposal, they wouldn't know the subtle difference between her moods.
Maybe she needed to talk to them, and set the record straight.
She just didn't know how…
Then again, she doubted talking itself would help at all. It probably wouldn't.
It didn't matter if she told them to pay attention. They wouldn't even know what to pay attention to. They weren't built to think like a Faunus, or to act like one. Human nature and Faunus nature were two completely separate things. Nose blind, and partially deaf, humans lacked too many finer details.
This was, perhaps, the greatest divide between the humans and Faunus. The reason they were thought to be animals in the first place. Faunus were seen as other, as different, and that's just the way it was. They were human enough to live among them, but animal enough to never truly be understood.
Time would have a way of sorting many thing out. The divide would lessen as the years went by.
The language barrier would lessen considerably as Ace learned to speak human words. She'd likely make human friends, so long as she learned to behave like a human among them. So long as she endeavored to conform, there would be acceptance and tolerance among the human race. There was only one problem.
That was a Faunus plight, and Blake was the only one within the household who knew how to navigate that.