"…and I thought nothing of it, because the vodka ice cubes were still in the trays in the freezer," Kali explained as she upturned a hand with a shrug. The woman flashed the stunned boy before her a wicked grin as his cheeks paled in realization. "And then Sasha came out of the bedroom just as Elias came out of the shower, after I'd stolen all of the towels. I took one look at him as he tried to cover up and just said- now that's a katana!"
"Oh my gods, you did not," Neptune denied as he brought a hand up to cover his mouth as he let out a peal of nervous laughter. "But then… what about her dirt bike? And the fruit salad?"
"Oh, the fruit salad was already tainted by that point," Kali informed with a dismissive wave of her hand. "As for the dirt bike situation… there's a reason that Sasha and Elias broke up that night. That's all I'll say," the woman said with a wink.
"Wow. Just… wow," Neptune replied as he shook his head. "Your time at Shade makes ours at Beacon sound like preschool."
"My mother is a degenerate, and I'm embarrassed to know her," Blake said flatly from her position seated next to Neptune on the floor of the cargo plane's hangar. The faunus girl kept her fingers pinched firmly around the bridge of her nose as she heaved a massive sigh. "No wonder you had no problem with me bringing Sun home, even before we became a couple."
"Blake, dear, you have no idea just how deep the rabbit hole goes," Kali teased as she leaned over and flicked at one of her daughter's feline ears.
"And I don't want to, either," Blake protested.
"I do!" Neptune said enthusiastically as he raised a hand, before rubbing them both together feverishly. "Speaking of, got any embarrassing stories about Sun from his time at your place?"
"Oh, loads," Kali replied with a toothy grin. "But they'll have to wait. I'm going to go and check in on Qrow in the cockpit. We should only be about fifteen minutes out from Kuo Kuana. Once we land, I'll be making a speech about our intentions to begin the rebuilding and cleanup effort. Blake, would you like to contribute?"
The younger faunus looked up at her mother, before quickly looking away as she hugged at her knees.
"…yes. I'll… help. Things are too serious for me to just sit on the sidelines, this time."
"Glad to hear it," Kali praised as she clapped her hands together. "Then I'll be on my way. Neptune, once we figure out our housing situation, remind me to start off with the story of how I managed to accidentally walk in on Sun while he was trying to take pictures of his abs for Blake."
"Mom!" Blake protested before burying her scarlet face in her hands.
"Oh, I will," Neptune offered with an enthusiastic grin. "Seeya, Kal!"
Kali let her fingers roll one by one in a backward wave as she swayed her way into the cockpit and out of sight. Blake's ears flattened as she looked up and to her left at Neptune, where the boy still wore a confident smirk.
"…Kal?"
"Huh?" Neptune asked as he tore his eyes off the cockpit door. "Oh! Yeah, your mom told me to call her by her first name. She's really cool, you know. You should be proud to have a mom like her."
"I am proud," Blake said softly as she lowered her chin and stared at the gap between her legs. "I'm just… feeling a lot of conflicting emotions, right now."
Neptune's smile shifted quickly into a contemplative expression as his mouth pulled slightly to one side. Without a word, he scooted in closer to Blake and snaked an arm around her shoulders, unbalancing her as he pulled her into a sideways embrace.
"Neptune! Wh-…"
"Hey," the boy began as he wagged a finger. "I know I'm not Sun, but I'll do what I can. You need an ear? I'm your man. You wanna know what he might think of something, while we're away? I'd probably know, since he's like a brother to me. He pulled me aside before we left and asked me to be there for you in his stead, and make sure you're doing okay on a daily basis. If you ever want to just privately vent and get stuff off your mind, let me know. I won't judge."
Blake tensed slightly at the words, before finally allowing herself to lean into Neptune's side with a sigh of content.
"I will, definitely," Blake reassured. "And that goes for you, too- if you need to talk about anything, I'll do what I can. Sun's lucky to have you, Neptune. So am I."
"Hey, no way," Neptune protested. "We're both lucky to have him. Hell of a guy."
"You've got that right," Blake agreed with another sigh. "Has he… told you anything about… us?"
"Oh, come on," Neptune said incredulously. "Has he told me anything? I couldn't get him to shut up sometimes at Qrow's place, no matter how hard I tried! There were a few times when he went on long tangents about how much you mean to him until he looked ready to pass out from lack of oxygen. He adores you, girl. Speaking of- I've got a little surprise for you, later. Something he gave me to give to you, at a specific time."
Blake didn't even try to fight back her smile as her ears perked up.
"Thank you, Neptune. I think this is all going to be easier than it otherwise would be, with you here. I just hope they get to Argus alright."
"I'm sure they will," Neptune offered as the door to the cockpit slid open once again and Kali appeared within the doorway.
"We're landing in five. It's… almost time to see home again, Blake," Kali warned with a conflicted look.
"Neptune," Blake began as she looked up at her companion. "Did you pack extra clothes?"
"Huh? Yeah, of course!" the boy replied, confused.
"I may end up soaking your shirt when I see our house again," Blake warned. "I'll find a way to make it up to you."
"Hey, no worries," Neptune replied as he gave Blake a tight squeeze. "We'll get through this together. The Black Claw's in good hands."
"Yeah," Blake agreed as she shifted to stand, taking Neptune with her. "And our work begins now."
Cinnamon kept her eyes closed tightly as she rested her hands upon her lap. The woman sat alone in the bay of her private helicopter, simply thinking. She rolled a swatch of black material back and forth between her fingers and inhaled deeply through her nose as she ran through the events of the previous few days in her mind. Despite the certainty with which she had carried things out, she found herself filled with conflicting emotions. Memories flew by like a slideshow, each more unpleasant than the last.
Corsac reaching out to her as she pushed him out of the very same helicopter. Adam's glassy, unfocused eye as she removed his blindfold from his corpse. The pain and anger in Ilia's voice coming through the line of her scroll.
With another deep breath, Cinnamon opened her eyes and looked down at the bloodied cloth laced between her fingers. Almost immediately, she extended her left arm out to the side and let the black strand fly out of the helicopter and into the sky, where it quickly became lost in the violent winds. Cinnamon merely shook her head as she reached down and to her left to grab her crossbow gauntlet, before beginning to strap it on.
"We're here," the pilot said as he looked over his shoulder to the solitary woman sitting behind him.
"I know," Cinnamon snapped as she cracked her knuckles. "Put us down outside of the camp and leave this to me."
"Yes ma'am," the pilot replied as he turned his head to face forward and offered her a heavy sigh. Cinnamon let out a soft noise of frustration in reply and folded her arms across her chest.
"…I've got a lot on my mind. Sorry," she offered, keeping her eyes off the pilot.
The man turned to look behind himself again, his helmet concealing his facial expression.
"No, no, I didn't… of course, ma'am. You have nothing to apologize for."
"I have a lot to apologize for, to many different people," Cinnamon countered as the helicopter began a straight vertical descent. She leaned to look out the open window once again and saw a crowd of figures clad in white, black, and red waiting for her on the ground below outside the wooden gates of a massive campground.
"…I disagree," the pilot replied. "Even so, good luck."
Cinnamon lightly touched her palm to the man's shoulder before she hopped out of the helicopter and landed in the field before the gate. The grass fluttering in the wind generated by the helicopter's rotating blades slowly began to calm and then return to stillness as the giant vehicle wound down, and the assembled members of the White Fang stood in silence. Cinnamon took a long, deep breath before shaking her head and making her way to the gate, where guards within the watchtowers at either side opened the portal without question.
A trail of faunus formed behind their leader and watched with apprehension as Cinnamon made her way to the raised wooden platform at the center of the camp. Despite the lack of warning or call for assembly, little by little, the entire campground seemed to assemble before her. As she stared out over a sea of the White Fang's signature colors, Cinnamon took a deep breath, and began to project her voice.
"Brothers and sisters of the Fang. Adam Taurus…" she paused, finding that the script she had rehearsed in her mind for just such an occasion was failing her. She looked out over the crowd, only to lock eyes with a young, redheaded man in a black half-mask standing near the front. The male faunus gave her a subtle nod as he shifted his large, pale orange tail behind himself, and she offered him a slight smile in return. As quickly as her face had changed, it shifted once again to an expression of anger as she returned her attention to the crowd.
"…Adam Taurus was a mistake," Cinnamon finished, her words dripping with venom. "He was an unhinged, volatile, hate-filled tyrant who made an attempt to use my technology against our own people when on the brink of defeat at Haven Academy. As he was faced with arrest, he tried to detonate the planted charges against not only the academy, but himself, and us, as well. He was a power-hungry, vindictive fool willing to ally with humans for his own personal gain, and I have proof from the mouths of other traitors that he personally killed Sienna Khan. Now, he has joined her in death, and so has Corsac Albain."
Feverish conversation broke out amongst the assembled faunus, and Cinnamon raised her hand for silence. Eventually, it came, along with a mixture of expressions within the crowd. Some of the faunus appeared livid, others relieved, and still more nervous.
"The White fang has strayed. We are in chaos, pursued not only by the Mistrali police on account of our former leader's misjudgment and misguided faith in humans, but soon, by Kali Belladonna and her upstart Black Claw, as well. Here, now, I am formally declaring myself High Leader, and I will hear and deal with any objections before we get to the matters at hand. Anyone?"
All conversation came to an immediate end as Cinnamon swept her eyes over the crowd, looking for any dissent. Upon finding none, she allowed herself a small smirk and began to pace upon the stage.
"I vow to restore our reputation to that of a feared and respected agency of faunus. I will bring us back the glory we once had in Ghira Belladonna's age. His surviving widow thinks to make Menagerie into the fifth kingdom, but such ambitions will never come to fruition. Our task will be far simpler, and far more realistic. From here, our first move will be t-"
A bout of hysterical laughter broke out from somewhere within the center of the crowd of faunus and escalated quickly in volume. Several robed members of the White Fang stepped back from the doubled-over man at its source, leaving a ring of unoccupied dirt around him. At the sight of his isolation, the man straightened his posture and threw his head back in even more raucous laughter, causing the hood of his black robe to slip from around his head. He had black, greasy-looking hair pulled back into a tight, braided ponytail, and sallow eyes of gaunt yellow.
"Who would dare?" Cinnamon questioned as she attached a drum magazine to her arm-mounted crossbow.
More laughter echoed out around the campground as the man walked forward and the crowd parted for him. It wasn't long before he reached the wooden steps and climbed up to the stage, where he tossed his cloak away to reveal a glittering steel scorpion's tail attached to a brace around his waist. The mechanical limb arched up and over his shoulder as the stinger began to drip a dark purple venom, and the man's eyes flickered violet.
"My queen would, and I'm here to tell you exactly what your next move will be. Or else."
Author's Note:
Volume 7 is going to be divided into several sections- Sun's team arc, Blake's team arc, Ruby's team arc, and Cinnamon's arc. All but one of those are now in play, and also the reason that there's no way in hell this is finishing in 15-20 chapters. I think I knew that as soon as I wrote it in the note of 65, but I can dream…
-RD