Chapter 5: A Black 'n Yellow Reunion

-/- Kuo Kuana, Menagerie -/-

Upon reaching the port of Kuo Kuana just as the sun was setting, the traveling quartet were amazed to see how crowded the city of Faunus was. Huts and small stalls dotted the landscape, with many of the residents wearing clothing suitable for the tropics, giving off a tropic vibe to those who came to the city.

However, the lack of space for everyone was what freaked Weiss out, and she had audibly gulped when Ethan told them that a large portion of the island was covered by a desert that was worse than that of Vacuo's. She felt so sorry for the Faunus, and was so frozen in place that it took Yang and Pyrrha to convince her to start moving so they could meet up with Blake.

The quartet received weird looks from the residents as the girls followed Ethan to a large house that served as the Belladonna household, much to the three girls' shock.

"Are you kidding me, Ethan?!" Yang hissed, jaw agape as Ethan casually began to walk up the stairs leading to the large front doors of the house. "This is where Blake lives?!"

"Err, yeah. I mean, her dad is the mayor of this city after all..."

"What?!" All three girls shrieked.

"And he, um, was also the former leader of the White Fang, so..."

"What?!"

"Blake lives here with her parents."

"What?! Just her parents?!"

"Yeah. Now will the three of you get a hold of yourselves? We might cause a weird scene." With that, Pyrrha, Yang, and Weiss gulped and nodded their heads slowly, following the raven-haired teen to the front door. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Ethan held the door knocker with both hands and slammed it against the door.

It was a few minutes before the door opened, and a Faunus with short, black hair and pierced cat ears cautiously poked her head outside the door. "Yes? May I... Help you four?"

The girls tried to keep their mouths still as Ethan answered, "We need to speak to Blake Belladonna, please."

"Blake? Are you her friends?"

"Uhm... I'm not..." Ethan replied, before motioning to the three girls behind him. "But they are."

The woman's eyes brightened and she smiled at the quartet. "Come in then," she said. "I am Kali Belladonna, Blake's mother. She's in the study with another friend of hers."

"Wait, another friend of hers?" Weiss hesitantly echoed as she and the others came in before Kali closed the door behind them.

"Yes. She arrived here a few weeks back with a young Monkey Faunus."

"Oh, Sun." Yang said, sighing in relief. "Looks like he followed her all the way form Beacon."

"Huh, I wonder if he stowed away on the ship again."

"Quite possible," The blonde snickered.

-/-

"Can I ask you something, Sun?"

"Sure."

"Do you think Yang... Yang would... She would forgive me for what I did?"

Sun Wukong, Monkey Faunus from Vacuo, hummed in thought, leaning back on the sofa that he was sitting on. His friend, Blake Belladonna-a black-haired Cat Faunus-tilted her head as she waited for him to respond to her question. After a few minutes of pondering, the blond answered, "Yeah, she would. You just have to explain to her why you left and all."

"E-explain?" Blake stuttered, earning a nod from her fellow Faunus. "But what if she... She won't accept it? What if... What if she's still in pain over what I did?"

"Dunno about that, but the one thing I'm sure of is that she's bound to forgive you-just give her time to accept your apology and stuff."

"I... I see. Thanks, Sun. That helped a lot."

"Anytime," Was the blond's reply before a knock sounded through the study in which the two of them were in.

"Come in," Blake said softly, and the door slid open before Kali came inside. "Blake, you and Sun should come to the common room," The older Cat Faunus said. "Some people are here to see you."

"Some people?" The black and yellow haired Faunus echoed.

"Yes. Apparently, they're a few friends of yours, Blake."

C-could it be? Blake silently gulped, but she nodded at Sun and they left the study, following Kali into the common room.

And what she was totally not expecting was that when her mother opened the door, a certain grinning blonde was standing in front of her, with a completely healed right arm.

It took all of her willpower to not freeze in place, and run straight into Yang's arms without any hesitation, crying her partner's name as she did so.

-/-

Yang was totally prepared for Blake freezing onto her place should the Cat Faunus focus on her.

She was not prepared, however, for her partner to cry, "Yang!" and run to her, ready for a hug. So her eyes widened when Blake hugged her tight, but she still returned the hug.

The two of them were like that for a while before Blake pulled away, and focused her gaze at Yang's healed arm. "B-b-but how...?"

"Eh, it's a long story."

"Yang..." Amber eyes shifted from looking at the arm to meeting Yang's lilac orbs. "I... I'm... I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you but I-"

"Oh hush," Yang immediately shushed her. "All we need is a 'sorry,' then we're done. I understand why you left, but next time... It would be better if you didn't run away, okay?"

"Besides," Chirped a certain white-haired heiress who was sitting on one of the cushions beside Yang's, "I think we've had enough of people running away for now."

Blake's eyes widened as she gasped, "Weiss! You're here too?!"

"Of course I am!" Said Atlesian huffed. "Who had to cool down your partner's anger about you leaving besides me?"

"Heh," An unfamiliar male voice startled Blake, and she turned to see a boy with messy black hair and dark blue eyes snickering alongside a familiar-looking redhead with green eyes. "You sure cooled Yang down-she doesn't look so fiery right now." The boy said, before a chorus of groans coming from Weiss, the nearby Sun, and the redhead began.

"Oh dear Oum, what did I start?" Weiss bemoaned, and Blake could not hold back a smile while Yang cheered, "Yipee! Weiss joins the pun army!"

"Hey! I had no intentions of joining you in making those lame puns!"

"But you just made one-and it was better than the last one you made back in Vale!"

"Oh, please!"

The laughter rang out as Yang-as well as Blake and Sun-sat down on the cushions provided. The Cat Faunus gave a sigh of relief. "I'm glad... I'm glad you guys are here."

"No problem," The boy said, grinning at her, but Weiss said, "Not you, you dunce! You aren't her teammate!"

"Hey! I was speaking for all of us!" The black-haired teen reasoned.

"And speaking of 'all of us,' who are you two?" Sun asked.

"I'm Ethan Kenway," The boy answered. "And I'm pretty sure you guys already know... Pyrrha over here." He motioned to the redhead, who waved shyly at them. Blake and Sun simultaneously gaped. "W-what?!"

"Hello again!" Pyrrha said cheerily. "It's been a while."

"Since when did you-" Sun's question was cut off by Weiss, who quickly said, "Long story short, Ethan managed to bring her back and heal Yang's arm. At least, that's what you just need to know."

"... Okay..."

"Just a question: where's your circlet?" Blake asked, ever the observant one. Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. When I came back, I didn't have it on me."

"Another one, if I may," Sun said, and everyone looked at him. "Where's Ruby?"

"She left for Mistral a few months ago with Jaune and the others," Was Yang's answer. "My uncle's keeping an eye on them."

"We're planning to head for Anima in a few days and catch up to them," Ethan said. "It's important that we reach them before it's too late."

"Too late? What do you mean?" Blake inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I... I'll explain when we find them. Promise."

"Better keep it," Weiss cautioned, narrowing her eyes at the raven-haired boy.

"Of course I will!" Ethan swore. "But that aside..." He glanced at Blake and Sun. "I think we need to talk about something important now."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"It's about the White Fang." With that, the cheery mood evaporated and the teens became serious. Blake and Sun exchanged nervous looks and nodded at each other before Blake said, "You... You know about the planned coup d'etat?"

The blue-eyed boy nodded. Looking at the confused freezerburn duo and Pyrrha, he supplied the explanation. "The one who led the White Fang's forces in the Fall of Beacon, Adam Taurus, plans to overthrow the current High Leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan."

"What?!" Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha cried, eyes widening. "But... But why? What would he gain from that? Aren't they fighting for the same cause?" Weiss inquired.

Blake sighed sadly, looking down. "They do fight for the same cause; to convince humanity to accept the Faunus as equals. But Adam... He wants more than just that. He wants us to be mankind's masters, to rule over them as they did to us. Sienna only wants to use violence as a means of intimidating humans to accept us, but not to take over the world."

"So if this Adam became leader," Pyrrha said slowly. "What'll happen next?"

Sun grunted, looking away. "He'll bring down Haven, just like how he did at Beacon."

Gasps from the Beacon trio echoed throughout the room. Everyone was silent for a few minutes, before Weiss spoke. "So... What are we going to do?"

"That's the thing," Blake answered, narrowing her eyes. "We're going to take it back. The White Fang, I mean."

Yang gave her partner a worried look. "You mean... You'll take control of the group?"

The Cat Faunus nodded, a determined look on her face. Upon seeing said look, Yang's face softened and she smiled at her teammate. Ethan cleared his throat after a while, saying, "Have you guys made any process on your, erm, goal?"

Sun answered with an exasperated sigh. "Welp, Mr. B and I went over to the place where Menagerie's own group of White Fang members stayed. The guys in charge only said stuff like, 'We'll take care of it,' yadda, yadda. Pissed us off!"

"At least you and Dad agreed on something," Blake remarked. "He and Dad came home with grumpy faces and equally grumpy complaints."

Ethan snickered quietly. So this universe still adds to the story, even if we haven't seen it ourselves, he thought.

"Hey, speaking of your dad, where is he, anyway?" The raven-haired boy asked.

"Arranging things for an public announcement happening a few days from now," Blake replied. "He plans to reveal the plans to the public of Menagerie, whether the White Fang likes it or not."

"Oh."

"That aside," Blake turned to Weiss, Yang, and Pyrrha. "Mind telling Sun and I now about how you're all here?"

Yang laughed nervously. "Welp... That's a long story..."

-/-/-/-

It was late into the night when Ethan was able to settle into the room he had been given by Kali. When they had told the older Cat Faunus about their intention to stay in Menagerie for a while before leaving for Anima, she offered a few of the guestrooms in the house to them.

His room consisted of a chair-and-desk just beside a simple clean bed, as well as a wooden dresser. There was a nearby small balcony that the raven-haired teen was currently occupying as he enjoyed the cool breeze of the night.

After a while, Ethan was about to head back inside his room, but a familiar voice stopped him from doing so.

"Ethan," Came a certain white-cloaked woman's voice. "I see you've been doing well on your mission."

The teen flinched upon hearing her voice, not expecting to meet Summer at the current time of the night, but quickly turned to face her and said, "H-hey Summer. Didn't expect you to contact me now..."

"I apologize," Summer giggled, knowing that she had scared the daylights out of the boy. "Old habits die hard."

"But aren't you dead already?"

An awkward silence reigned after his reply, before the silver-eyed woman sighed and said, "I don't know who is the worst at making those kinds of jokes. Either it's you or Tai or Yang, or even-"

"Does Qrow make puns too?"

"Heavens, no," The redhead answered in a shocked tone. "But he has a close friend who used to crack puns with Tai while we studied at Beacon."

"I suppose that they were the worst pair of comedians Beacon ever saw."

"Nope, not worst pair. They somehow managed to rope Qrow into their shenanigans, so they were the worst trio of comedians that Beacon ever saw, even without the puns."

Ethan snickered. Summer chuckled along with him before she said, "Well, onto more important matters... I take it that you've made some good friends while you're here?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with making friends and close bonds, but I must warn you: you won't be staying in Remnant for the rest of your life. Once your mission is complete, you have to return to your world."

The raven-haired boy's face fell, but he nodded in understanding. "I... See. So I can't get too attached, then."

"That is correct." Summer replied. Ethan was silent for a few minutes, letting the night breeze pass by the two of them before he turned to Summer again with a curious look. "Hey Summer, I've been wondering something..."

"What is it?"

"How... How were you able to send me here?"

"That is a very difficult question to answer..." The crimson-haired woman said, sighing. "But, what I can tell you is that when I had died, I was given a chance to search for someone who could help my world. I took it, and the rest is, well, it's history."

"Huh," Ethan said quietly. "Who gave you that ability then?"

"I don't really know who they were, but one of them gave me this." Summer explained, taking out a blank white card from her belt's strap-on pocket and showing it to the black-haired boy before putting it back. "This card allows me to contact them, just in case I need help."

"I reckon you've used it a lot."

"Yeah," The Huntress said sheepishly, laughing nervously. "They were always willing to help."

The two of them were silent once more, before Summer sighed, getting up from the sturdy, wooden railing of the balcony that she had been sitting on throughout her visit. "I have to go now. You need your rest, and explain a few things to your friends tomorrow morning."

The raven-haired boy subsequently yawned upon Summer's mention of him needing rest. "I suppose I have to turn in for the night now."

"Ah! Wait," The redhead exclaimed. "The ones who sent you here... One of them wanted to let you have these." She gave Ethan a small, wrapped package. The boy raised an eyebrow and immediately opened the package. Inside was a pair of wired clip-on greyish-blue earphones and a small, grey, cylindrical, neck-strapped tube that looked like an MP3 player.

"What the..." The teen said slowly, immediately wearing the strap and plugging the clip-on earphones into the MP3 player. "Who am I, Peter Quill?"

"I don't know who that is," Summer commented, shrugging her shoulders. "But they look good on you."

"Tell them thanks, okay?"

"No problemo," The silver-eyed woman chirped, before she faded away. Ethan smiled softly at the present, then realized there was a handwritten note that came with the package.

It took a while to craft these things, but it was definitely worth it when Summer said that you were fond of listening to music! When you need to chill, just press play! -M

The boy chuckled quietly and finally went inside his room for the night.

-/-/-/-

Unbeknownst to Ethan while he was talking with Summer, Blake and Yang had been having their own private (and possibly long overdue) conversation in the Cat Faunus's own room.

"Blake... We really, really need to talk." Yang had said after she knocked on Blake's door and had been let in by said black-haired former Huntress-in-training, who then immediately froze in position upon hearing Yang's determined voice.

Gulping silently, Blake turned to look at her partner, who was giving her a concerned look. "S-Sure," She replied uneasily, cat ears twitching nervously as Yang sighed. "What is it, Yang?"

"It's about... It's about us." The blonde shakily said, uncharacteristically hiding her hands behind her back, feeling a few sweat drops trickle down the back of her neck. Blake frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I—" Yang faltered, before groaning in frustration and yanking at a few strands of her hair. Blake, worried, approached her teammate cautiously, softly saying, "Yang, what's wrong?"

The blonde only groaned another time and looked at Blake straight in the eye. Much to Blake's worry and fear, the dragon's eyes had turned from lilac to red.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Yang hissed, her tone causing Blake to flinch. "I don't know how to tell you that, that—"

"That what?"

"That I love you, stupid!"

Mother of Oum, Yang's a tsundere, Blake thought, before giggling and replying, "Calm down, Yang, no need to get so worked up about it."

"It's just that, argh! Weiss said to tell you about this in the most romantic way possible, and I dunno what that is, so—"

"Yang."

"What?"

"Here," Blake placed a kiss on the blonde's cheek, enjoying the sight of Yang's cheeks slowly turning red. "I love you too."

Yang froze in position for a few minutes, before she relaxed and sighed. "S-Sorry about that..." She apologized. "I... For once, I'm at a loss for words on what to say."

"It's all right," Blake said softly. "I was also at a loss for words on how to tell you as well."

The blonde gave her a soft smile. "Can we do that again?"

"The what?"

"You know what I mean, kitty~"

"Yang, don't—"

The night skies were filled with meows and moans from the bumblebee duo

-/- The next day... -/-

Ethan came out of his room and went to the common room, only find no one except Weiss, who was sitting on one of the cushions as she read a book no doubt procured from one of the shelves nearby.

"Morning Weiss."

"Hm?" The ex-heiress looked up to see the raven-haired teen grinning at her and taking a cushion beside hers. "Oh, good morning Ethan. Slept well?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Same." The unusual glum voice of the white-haired girl caused Ethan to raise an eyebrow. Weiss wasn't sounding like her usual self today...

"Weiss, you really okay?"

"I am, don't worry." The flicker of sadness in her blue eyes did not escape Ethan's curiously worried gaze. He frowned at her, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Weiss, please tell me the truth."

Weiss looked at him in the eye for a few seconds, before sighing and giving up. "All right, fine. It's... It's about Yang."

"Yang? What about her?"

"I... I... I don't really know how to word this, but—"

"Mornin' Ethan, Weiss!" Yang's upbeat voice interrupted the ex-heiress, and Ethan looked up to see Yang with her arm slung across Blake's neck in an affectionate manner. Blake herself gave him and Weiss a shy smile as she and Yang walked into the common room.

"Morning guys. Where are Pyrrha and Sun?"

"Sun's still asleep. It's seven in the morning anyways, so we can't blame him. Pyrrha's in her room getting prepared," Yang answered, plopping onto one of the cushions while Blake sat beside her.

"Oh, okay," Ethan said, before he took a glance at Weiss. While she looked calm and composed as the exchange of words went on, her eyes told a different story. The black-haired teen could see a tear threatening to trickle down her cheek, though Weiss was doing her best to blink it away.

Just what was wrong with her?