Welcome to Chapter 2 of Of Light, Fire, and Flowers as promised here is a bit of a fluffier chapter than the last one hope you all enjoy.

Reviews:

DarkRising32: I PM'ed you but I'll answer you here in case you didn't get it. I am unsure as of right now but I have roughly 12 more chapters planned out. Depending on how things go I most likely will but things will obviously be a whole lot different.

Everyone else: Thanks for the positive feedback. It does wonders for my confidence and motivation!


Chapter 2: New Friends.


Cinder sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She looked around her bedroom and smiled.

It had been a few days since Mason had adopted her as his daughter and she couldn't be happier. She had a warm bed, was well fed, and had someone who seemed to genuinely care about her taking care of her. She didn't have any new clothes to replace her rags yet but Mason had said they would go and buy some today.

She hurriedly got out of bed and threw on the hoodie Mason had given her before she made her way to the kitchen.

As soon as she opened the door, her nose was assaulted by a warm buttery smell and the slight sizzle of grease.

"WAFFLES!" She shouted and ran and peeked over the counter.

Mason let out a chuckle. "Not yet. They're not quite done. Go grab a drink and go sit down. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay!" Cinder smiled and made her way to the small table and sat down. She gently swung her legs from side to side, not quite tall enough to have her feet on the floor.

A few moments later Mason made his way over and set a plate of waffles in front of her. She eyed them hungrily as the syrup dripped and pooled beneath them. She waited for Mason to sit down with his morning coffee before she began to devour the syrupy squares.

"Woah there!" Mason pulled the plate away. "Slow down a bit. Can't have you choking now can we."

"Okay…" she pouted as he pushed the plate back to her.

Mason watched as Cinder ate her waffles. The small girl's mood had improved greatly ever since he had adopted her. It made him smile seeing her happy. Since she was in a good mood and she had finally gotten used to living with him he decided it was time to tell her something.

"Hey Cinder?" Mason asked.

"Yeah Dad?" She said still eating.

"I'd like you to meet someone. Neir, if you could come out now please."

As Mason finished talking, Neir materialized in front of Mason just above his coffee cup.

"Hello Cinder. My name is Neir and I… uh… Cinder?" the ghost tilted its fins to the side in a gesture of confusion.

Cinder was staring at the probe with stars in her eyes. "Woah… Floating chocolate….."

*SNRK* Mason jerked his head to the side to avoid his ghosts annoyed glare.

"Something funny Guardian…" Neir said.

"Noooooooo….." Mason said still avoiding Neir's stare.

"Are you sure about thaaaaAAHHH NO CINDER STOP THAT!"

Cinder had grabbed Neir from the air and had begun chewing on the chocolate colored ghost.

"CINDER I AM NOT FOOD! MASON GET HER OFF OF ME!"

Mason didn't hear him. He was too busy rolling on the floor laughing at his ghost's predicament.

After some moments of struggle the Ghost wriggled its way out of Cinders tiny hands and floated to the other side of the table. "Cinder I am NOT food! I am a Ghost! That bumbling idiot's Ghost to be exact."

"Hey!" Mason said indignantly from the floor.

"Woooow! Wait does that mean you're dead?" Cinder said pointing to Mason as he got up.

Silence. Very awkward and very tense silence filled the air.

Cinder couldn't have known what she had said was closer to the truth than she thought, but the idea that she had guessed correctly still shocked both the Ghost and Guardian.

"Uh. No." Mason let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head. "If I was dead I wouldn't be here right now."

"Then why do you have a ghost? AH! You're a Zombie aren't you! You and your ghost are just friends working to eat my brains, aren't you?" Cinder jumped from the chair and hid behind it.

Again she was technically correct, creating more awkward silence.

"Well I can say that this was definitely not one of the outcomes I predicted…" Neir slowly said.

"Cinder. We're not zombies or ghosts, the spirit kind I mean." Mason said waving his hand. "Neir is called a Ghost because he can disappear and reappear, like a ghost can."

Cinder peaked over the top of the chair. "You mean you're not going to eat my brains?"

"No, we are not going to eat your brains." Mason assured her.

Cinder stared at the two suspiciously before returning to her seat. "So what is Chocolate then?"

"Well simply put he's a really advanced robot." Mason gestured to the small drone.

"As much as I dislike being referred to as a robot that is the easiest way to explain what I am. AND MY NAME IS NOT CHOCOLATE!" Neir said completely exasperated.

Mason chuckled before scrunching his nose. "Uh, does anyone smell something burning?"

"AHHH!" Cinder yelped quickly extinguishing the flames on her hands, leaving two scorched hand prints on the table. "Sorry…"

"It's fine Cinder. You got excited is all." Mason wave it off. "I had problems like that to before I learned how to control my own fire."

Mason lit a finger on fire to prove his point.

Cinder looked back to her hands. Then she looked to Mason's finger. Then back to her hands. The to the finger and back to her hands again.

She lit a hand and gently grabbed Masons flaming finger. "Hey dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't my flames hurt you like everybody else?" Cinder said still holding his finger.

"Because my fire is stronger than yours right now." Mason said matter-of-factly.

"Then why doesn't your fire hurt me?"

"Because I don't want it to." Mason extinguished his finger.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that, since I made this fire with my body I can tell it who to hurt and who not to hurt." Mason set his finger between the scorched handprints and burnt his finger print into the table. "See?"

"Then does that mean I can make my fire not hurt people?" Cinder asked excitedly.

"Probably? I'm not sure to be honest with you, but we can always experiment and find out." Mason said. "Anyway, are you ready to head to Vale and get some new clothes."

"Yup." Cinder popped the P as she hopped of the chair. "Are we taking the spaceship?"

"It's a Bullhead, but yes we're tanking the spaceship." Mason set her plate into the sink and followed her out of the kitchen towards the front door."

"YAY!" Cinder shouted and she bolted out the door.

Mason threw on his cloak and followed after her.

It was easy to see why Cinder thought Mason's bullhead was a spaceship, because it was one. Cinder didn't need to know that of course. The ship was long and sleek with a faded orange paint job. Two engines in the back rested with their afterburners cold with the rudders and air-brakes just above them. Sprayed on the side were the words Fatal Vison.

"Spaceship!" Cinder ran towards the Bullhead. (Read: Spaceship he arrived on)

"Alright! Alright. Hold your horses let me get the door." Mason made his way over to the ship and lowered the stairs. They used the stair's because after the first time Cinder had been transmatted into the ship she had puked all over the floor. After that Mason had decided that it was better to wait until she was older to try transmatting again.

They made their way onboard the ship and Mason sat down into the cockpit. Cinder sat in one of the three extra seats onboard.

"Ready Cinder?" Mason said over his shoulder.

"YEAH!" Cinder shouted just as she finished buckling her harness.

Mason started the engines and with a light pull of the throttle the ship ascended into the air and made its way towards Vale.

Line Break

Cinder and Mason made their way down the street. Mason was carrying several bags of clothing Cinder had picked out and now they were on their way back to the ship.

"Hey dad?"

"Mmm?" Mason hummed.

"On the Bullhead. What's behind the door that says Danger Explosixs on it?"

Mason let out a light laugh. "It's pronounced explosives Cinder."

"Explosives?" Cinder repeated the word a few times getting a feel for how to say it.

"Yup. Remember that gun I had when I adopted you?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I have more in there. It's a Vault of sorts." Mason said.

"What's a vault?" Cinder looked up at him.

"Think of it as a really big safe."

"Ooooohhhh."

The two kept walking until they reached a book store. It modest with books lining the windows. Above the door the sign read Tuckson's Book Trade. Painted on a window was the stores catchphrase "Home to every book under the sun."

Cinder kept walking but Mason stopped.

"Hey Cinder, hold on I want you to meet someone." He said.

Cinder stopped and turned around. "Is it another ghost?"

Mason laughed. "No it's not. Just follow me and I'll introduce you."

The two walked into the store a small bell ringing as the door was opened.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade. Home to every book under the sun." A young, well-built man said from behind a counter.

"Good to see you too Tukson!" Mason waved.

"Mason! Good to see you!" Tukson waved as he walked out from behind the counter his thick black tail swinging behind him. "How's Vale been treating you?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Mason shook Tukson's hand. "But I can't complain especially after you helped me out like you did. I actually wanted you to meet someone."

Mason besides himself. "This is my adopted daughter Cinder Fall."

Tukson looked confused. "Uh Mason there's no one-"

Tukson stood ramrod straight.

"It's so soft…." Cinder said rubbing Tukson's tail against her face. "Hey mister why do you have a tail?"

"Cinder I'm sure he'd love to answer your question but you can't just run up to someone and touch them without permission." Mason crossed his arms trying his hardest to hold in his laughter.

Cinder made a pouty face but let go of Tukson's tail.

Tukson relaxed a bit "It's ok Mason. I wasn't expecting it is all."

"No don't say that. I know that the Animal parts of a faunus are sensitive. She shouldn't have touched your tail without asking." Mason waved him off. "Now Cinder say sorry."

"Sorry…" Cinder looked down and poked her fingers together.

"I-It's okay. You didn't know." Tukson slightly stuttered.

"So anyway, this is my daughter Cinder Fall." Mason said gesturing to the embarrassed child. "Cinder meet Tukson. We helped each other out when we first moved to Vale."

"Hello Mr. Tukson." Cinder smiled. "Hey dad why does he have a tail?"

"Don't ask me. Ask him." Mason gestured to Tukson.

"Mr. Tukson? Why do you have a tail?" Cinder asked.

"Well. I'm a faunus. We're humans, just with some animal traits like tails, claws, or cat ears." Tukson gestured to his tail and extended his claws.

"Woah." Cinder was wide eyed. "That's so cool….."

"Hey Cinder why don't you look around a bit. I want to talk to Tukson about some stuff." Mason said.

"Okay!" Cinder jogged off to browse the books.

Tukson took Mason into his office and they sat at a desk across from each other.

"Well? What brings you back here?" Tukson said. "You usually aren't in Vale without a reason."

"Three reasons." Mason held up three fingers. "One: I needed to buy new clothes for my kid."

"I saw. It's good to see that you're raising her to not dislike the faunus." Tukson nodded.

"Wrong, I'm not raising her to like the faunus, I'm raising her to form her own opinions." Mason said before continuing. "Two: I hadn't seen you in a while so I figured why not stop by since it's on the way to the hangers."

Tukson nodded again.

"And three: I looked into the White Fang like you asked."

Tukson raised a brow. "And?"

"You have the payment?" Mason said.

Tukson reached under his desk and pulled out a briefcase and handed it to Mason. Mason opened the case and saw it was filled with vials of different types of dust. He closed the case and nodded.

"If that was the discounted price I'd hate to see the normal price you ask for." Tukson said. "Junior charges a lot for black market dust."

"I know." Mason said. "Anyway, as I was saying, I looked into the White Fang. You know the basics, a new faunus civil rights group dedicated to peacefully resolving the racism and discrimination faunus face yada yada yada."

"Yes, I know." Tukson leaned back in his chair.

"Well they are led by a man named Ghira Belladonna. His wife, Kali Belladonna, might be involved as well but so far that's just a rumor. While the organization itself is peaceful, the potential for violent splinter groups to form is very VERY high, especially with how the Schnee Dust company keeps making the papers with its horrible working conditions. They are currently based in Menagerie and most other branches act largly independently from each other."

Mason reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Tukson. "Here's a packet of other miscellaneous info I gathered along with a letter of recommendation from one of the current leaders of the Vale branch. I've changed the name so you can use it to join if you want to."

Tukson nodded again. "Thanks for the info. Seems like you live up to your reputation, ey Phantom."

Mason scoffed. "Please I'm the best at what I do. And don't call me that. We're friends. To you I'm just Mason Vermillion. Well technically it's Fall now but you know what I mean."

"Oh? You're adopting Cinder's last name?" Tukson put away the envelope.

"Might as well. It'll make her happy that's for sure." Mason waved off the question. "But seriously I can't believe my name turned into Phantom."

"Well it is what you are. Always unseen, leaving no trace you were there aside from missing documents money and weapons."

"My name was Hunter because THAT is what I am. I exist. I'm not some specter." Mason sighed. "I have this cloak for a reason dammit."

"You know you've made it big in the underworld when you're complaining about the code name you earned." Tukson laughed. "I was going to ask why you always have a cloak but based on what you said I'll guess it's supposed to show what you are." Tukson said.

"Yeah. Shows that I'm a hunter. Every one of us has a cloak and everyone is different and each has a story behind it."

"So what's the story behind your's?" Tukson gestured to Mason's cloak.

The cloak was a orangey-red color with six circles placed in two columns of three. In each circle, there was a dot. The cloak its self was rather large reaching down to the middle of Mason's calf. Mason kept the hood down preferring to have the fur that lined it around his neck instead of his face. Holes peppered the cloak and it was showing obvious signs of age.

"It's the cloak of Taniks the Scarred. The short version is that I lost a few friends on a mission. Target was wearing this when I killed him and in remembrance of my fireteam I took his cloak. I'll give you the long version when you come to visit for dinner one of these days." Mason fidgeted with his cloak.

The two friends continued to chat for a few more minutes before Mason saw the time and said his goodbyes. The two left the office and found Cinder pouring over a book.

"Whatcha' reading there Cinder?" Mason asked.

"I dunno but there's a magic lady who makes fire like me!" Cinder grinned and pointed to a picture of an orange woman launching a fireball.

"Huh how about that. Do you want to buy it? I'll read it to you." Mason said.

"REALLY!" Cinder beamed. "YAY!"

The three made their way to the counter and mason paid for the book.

Tukson smiled. "Alright that will be 10.56 for the copy of The Story of the Seasons."


AN


Alright there's chapter 2 for everyone. Like I promised it's much happier than the previous one.

Now a bit of information on Tukson. His age and type of faunus is never specified so I assumed that in cannon he is a Jaguar faunus and roughly 40 or so years old. Making him 26 currently in this story. I figured he was some sort of cat faunus since he and Blake appeared to be friends and he had retractable claws like a cat does. As for why he was 40, well he looked like a middle-aged man in the show.

I was going to include a shopping scene in this chapter but was not sure how to write it out. If you guys would like to see that let me know and I'll see what I can do.

As always feel free to review and pm me suggestions.

Have a good one everybody.

-Zeak-