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Chapter 09: Resolution
Whilst Astra Mars had awoken early they had chosen to allow their team-mates to sleep as long as they desired on their first Saturday as students of Breaktide Academy.
This decision could hardly said to be entirely altruistic, rather the tension between Team MARZ had been coalesced and distilled by the events of the previous day to such a point that the idea of remaining in the dormitory was unthinkable. The team was now no longer quite the same dysfunctional and disparate quartet of individuals that it had been mere days ago, however Astra found themselves unable to remain civil or polite around Athena-Jade no matter how much Zirconia seemed willing to forgive and in an act of willpower that bordered on physical pain Astra had awoken early and left the dorm, choosing to keep their distance for a day or so until they could approach the problem of their most belligerent and problematic team-mate rationally rather than risk further conflict by attempting to do so there and then, which was certainly a likely outcome considering Athena's attitude to being woken up. Instead the Deer Faunus had decided to train, something they noted with a slight grimace to themselves that they had not done as much of as they would have liked over the course of the week. Astra had left a note for Regalia detailing their intentions and where they would likely be found as well as that they would continue helping her efforts to repair Clunker the custom jetbike later on before departing, deciding as they went that it would be pointless to waste the warmth of the early morning sun which was pleasant and less punishing than it would certainly be in a few hours time and so Astra had started their morning workout with a jog around the edge of the campus, following the high wall that marked its' edge.
Which was where he saw a bleary eyed and somewhat ragged Wolfram Ironside leading an almost equally dishevelled Team WULF towards the main gate.
"Hey!" Astra called out, speeding up so that they could close the distance a little sooner and intercept them, the knowing smirk on their face more than a little cocky as they added "Good night then I take it?"
"Port Alistair is definitely a fun night out, it was a bit….eventful" Wolfram gave a grim, rueful chuckle and massaged his temples though as he did so Astra noticed that their fellow team leader was sporting a handful of bruises that had not been present after Combat Class the previous day with an explanation coming from Ursinia a moment later, the tall and powerfully built Scorpion Faunus shaking her head and pushing her hat lower over her face as she let out a snort
"Wolfram here's a little too ornery for his own good, decided to start writing checks with his mouth in one bar and then when we got thrown out of that one he did the exact same thing in the next bar, except there it was a qualified Hunter he was flapping his gums at"
"Hey you got involved as well….and thanks for that" Wolfram flashed a bright smile that exuded confidence as they adjusted an errant strap of their armour and fiddled with the wolf-tail of smokey, blue-grey hair that had managed to find itself resting on an armoured shoulder
"I forget how 'cosmopolitan' Port Alistair is, most of the other settlements were founded by one Kingdom or corporation and we all have a bit of banter with each other, it gets a bit tribal sometimes; the capital was a joint effort from all the Kingdoms" he explained, clearly for Astra's benefit as he flashed them a grin and a wink of one of his steely grey eyes "You should've come, it'd have been more fun than scrapping with Dust thieves in Neo Vale"
"I uh….next time, next time" Astra mumbled awkwardly, toying absently with a dyed red Mohawk that was currently dishevelled, crumpled and leaning steeply towards one side of their antlered skull as they had chosen to forgo restyling it until after they had worked out. Ursinia glanced between the two and placed a massive palm on the shoulder of Laser, who continued to defy the scorching and inhospitable climate of Menagerie by wearing a jacket and Diabla who wore her combat attire without its' usual armour and sported, Astra noted with mild surprise several new bruises and scrapes on her knuckles indicating that despite her unsociable demeanour she had thrown herself into the fray alongside her team-mates.
"Come on, we need to catch that flight" the Scorpion Faunus drawled, flashing Astra and Wolfram a look that suggested she knew something the pair didn't and found it highly amusing "Wolfram catch up with us darlin'" with that the pair of team leaders were left alone in the morning sun, a sudden awkwardness between them lasting only a moment
"So you got any plans for the weekend?" Wolfram asked, Astra gave a non-committal shrug
"Probably gym and work on fixing Regalia's bike with her" the answered, pausing for a moment before perking hopefully and adding "I can meet you in the city when you get back if you want?"
"We're probably not gonna be back until later tonight" Wolfram gave an apologetic look "It's a long way to where I'm from, we've gotta fly out to Blackwater Cove and change over there to get to Stalwart….tiny little village in the middle of nowhere. Like you said though, next time"
"Yeah sure" Astra managed a weak smile "How come you've gotta fly though, is Menagerie really that big?"
"Bigger than people think it is, especially with more and more of it becoming useable" Wolfram shrugged before his expression darkened "Real problem is crossing the wastelands, there's more than Grimm out there"
"What do you mean?" Astra asked, both confused and genuinely interested
"I mean for one thing whatever Salem did to this place back before the wars, well people tried to reintroduce wildlife here to give Menagerie a real ecosystem but it I dunno, changed it somehow….not into Grimm or anything like that but you don't wanna get cornered by any animals here, trust me I know I'm from the sticks" Wolfram managed a bitter laugh before adding "Besides, not everybody settled the island for good reasons, a lot of people just wanted a place where no laws apply….there's all kinds of crazies out in the wastes, raiders who'll hit any convey they see, military bases that don't officially exist, religious nuts who worship the Grimm, Blackwater Cove has a lot of organised crime so there's always drug runs and bodies getting buried around there and then there's all kinds of nomad clans and tribes….They say some of 'em are cannibals"
"That's crazy, I didn't hear about any of that" Astra murmured, wondering how they'd managed to overlook the information before a thought occurred to them "Wait, Regalia must have crossed the wasteland to get here on her bike?"
"Yeah and now her bike's a mess 'cos Grimm got their claws on it" Wolfram shrugged "And as for not hearing about it, well the Kingdom thinks anything outside of the settlements isn't the Kingdom so they're not lying if they don't put it in the brochure"
"That's messed up" the Deer Faunus noted, unable to refute the point but still finding it distasteful
"Yeah" Wolfram nodded before realising just how long he had been standing and talking for and giving Astra something that somewhere between a playful punch on the shoulder and a lazy one-armed hug "Anyway I've gotta move, if I miss the flight my Mum will be pissed"
"Probably see you tomorrow then!" Astra called after his retreating back, watching as Wolfram broke into a jog to catch up with the rest of Team WULF who were now some distance away and as the four of them rounded a corner, vanishing deeper into the metropolis made of architecture and culture plucked from all across Remnant the Deer Faunus remained silently staring after their friend for a moment longer for shaking sense into themselves and continuing with their morning jog, quickly finding something else to occupy their thoughts as they did so.
Athena-Jade had awoken earlier than she would have liked despite Astra's best intentions and had growled irritably at her own Scroll as it's bleeping alarm dragged her from her slumber, only for a crushing sense of fear and hopeless listlessness to sap her energy and her anger along with it as she remembered exactly why she needed to be awake and remembered that she truly had nobody to blame but herself.
She had showered and dressed in a hurry and currently the short and broad-shouldered Bear Faunus wore an outfit somewhat more formal than her usual combat attire or the other loose fitting and casual clothing she had found herself wearing to offset the stifling hit of the island Kingdom, a similar if slightly less distinctly professional outfit to what she had worn for the video call interview that had first secured her place at Breaktide Academy and as she neared the destination she had been summoned to Athena privately hoped that she could once again make enough of a positive impression. The office of student counsellor was located within the largest and most central of the academies' many spires and towers, its' domed, multicoloured and stained glass roof housing the personal home of Coco Adel and her family with the Headmistresses office bein directly below it and the offices of her most senior members of staff, Yatsuhashi naturally included in turn below that. The view from the windows lining the corridor would have been stunning if Athena-Jade cared to look however the Bear Faunus fixed her pale blue gaze firmly on the plaques adorning each of the heavy wooden doors that bore the rooms' number and the identity of its' occupant eventually finding counsellor Daichi's office only to almost fling herself aside in an admitted overreaction as the door opened before she could knock on it.
"Really? Stop drop and roll….wait, oh my Oum are you wearing a suit? Oh you're lucky it's my Dad you're talking to, he might appreciate it" the speaker currently laughing at Athena was young, that of a teen younger than herself by a few years and despite how close to the surface her anger always seemed to be of late she managed to contain herself and react with no more than a slight frown in response to the taunts as she realised that she recognised the teen. Leaning in the door frame before her was a rabbit Faunus, taller than one might expect from a fifteen year old boy, with light brown skin and black hair that became fur as it covered the surface of the ears which added to his already notable height with a build that whilst far from weedy or slight was also a far cry from those of the students of Breaktide and a narrow face with slightly pinched features and brown eyes. Whilst they were not close, owing in no small part to the fact that they lived in different Kingdoms Athena had still met the boy perhaps a few more times than she had interacted with Astra prior to meeting them at Breaktide and there was no mistaking Fox Scarlatina, often called Little Fox with varying degrees of affection; the biological child of Velvet Scarlatina and Yatsuhashi Daichi and in reality the child of all three of Team CFVY's remaining members.
More important to Athena however was the fact that Velvet was stood directly behind her son, curtailing any ability to retort.
"Little Fox!" she gave a mocking and overblown gasp as she gestured at arms, chest and shoulders that were decidedly lacking in muscle "You got taller…..but you're still little"
"Yeah whatever, you're in my house" he shrugged, only for his expression to falter as his mother gave him a stern look
"Fox behave yourself, come on Athena has things to discuss with Yatsu" with that she steered her son away and leaned down slightly to murmur in Athena's ear as she went, clearly seeing the panic on the Bear Faunus's face "Relax, you're gonna be okay"
"Mister um, counsellor Daichi….sir?" Athena gently rapped her knuckles against the door of the office that was still ajar, not entering until the giant of a man sitting at a desk that only made him seem larger nodded to invite her in and as she entered Athena couldn't help but notice that something about the office was welcoming and had a calming effect on her frayed nerves, the forest green and cream coloured interior with brown leather furniture, well-stocked bookshelves, personal photographs on both the walls and the desk and several certificates and diplomas framed on the wall behind Yatsuhashi putting Athena's mind at ease even despite the enormous, curved and ornate sword easily as large as herself hanging on display.
"My apologies for my sons' attitude" Yatsuhashi said as a greeting, Athena simply shrugged as she made herself as comfortable as her lingering nerves would allow.
"I let it slide" the words left her before she could stop herself and she quickly rushed to amend the statement before it could be construed as threatening "I mean Summer-Pyrrha was at my place right before I left Atlas so I heard that they're not dating any more, I know Fox is just running his mouth"
"Indeed" Yatsuhashi peered at the Bear Faunus with dark eyes and Athena suddenly felt every inch of the almost two feet of difference in height between them more keenly "However that is a subject for another time and place, currently Miss Slate it's your behaviour that we're here to discuss….I trust you're aware of why this meeting has been arranged"
"I didn't mean to hurt her" Athena's expression lost what little colour it had previously held and her voice was a weak and cracking whisper, guilt that she thought had been washed away by Zirconia's forgiveness rising instantly to the forefront of her mind even as she nodded in confirmation
"Ah, you're referring to the accident in Professor Altan's class" another nod of agreement prompted the towering, yet gentle man to continue "Miss Slate I assure you that if you myself, Professor Altan or any other member of staff at this academy genuinely believed that you had attempted to murder your partner and pass it off as a training accident then the consequences would be far more severe than a visit to the student counsellor….However we are here to discuss your actions and attitudes in regards to your team-mates" a weight was lifted from Athena's chest, fresh air filling her lungs and a heavy proverbial darkness dissipating from her mind for a brief, almost joyous moment of relief only for her chest to tighten again a moment later as the counsellors' words began to sink in.
"Astra" she breathed out, massaging the bridge of her snout-like nose with a large and calloused hand.
"Indeed" Yatsuhashi nodded, low voice quiet enough to be felt more than heard "Though I must stress that Astra was not the one to bring concerns to my attention and everything said here today will remain confidential unless you choose to confide in your team-mates. That being said Miss Slate the fact of the matter is that several professors have noticed a degree of tension that has, on more than one occasion almost become physical and that you yourself have more often than not been the instigator; now I have no interest in assumptions and admit to not knowing what happens behind closed doors….so if there is anything happening in private between Team MARZ that-"
"No!" Athena shook her head vehemently, unable to keep the retractable claws extending from her fingertips as she waved her hands enthusiastically "No, Oum no nothing like….whatever you're thinking it's nothing like I-they wouldn't"
"I see" Yatsuhashi said simply and Athena-Jade quickly got her breathing under control and forced herself to remain calm, whatever her opinions of her team leader may be she simply would not, could not allow lies or implications of that nature to go unchallenged. Counsellor Daichi remained silent and simply leaned back in his chair with a silent gesture for the Bear Faunus to continue which left Athena, with almost no effort at all trapped within an emotional maelstrom of her own whirling thoughts as her need for answers, for validation or at least some form of closure on the subject grappled with pride, stubbornness and a sense that her questions would not be well received; she was after all challenging the decisions of one of Yatsuhashi's oldest friends however, after several moments of dense, cloying silence she managed to speak, through gritted teeth
"Why did Astra get the leadership position over me?"
"Ah" Yatsuhashi's expression seemed to relax as comprehension dawned on him, the veteran Hunter and counsellor understanding the root of the issue "You believe you would have been better suited?"
"Hell yeah….I mean, I did-I do" Athena found herself floundering, confidence and certainty shaken over the last few days and when she continued it was in a far smaller voice "Astra can make a good plan on the fly, I'm not trying to take that away from them at all and they're a pretty good fighter but the rest of the time they're barely focusing on the job, they can't seem to figure out if they've got the stomach for the job or not just stumbling blind and winging it but trying to convince everyone including themselves thy know what they're doing….Damn it I was top of every class in the Cadets, and at school, I read ahead on everything, trained against live Grimm in the tundra with my Dad, I practised, studied and did everything I could seven days a week, even when my parents told me to stop I put my all in and it wasn't enough!" by the time she had stopped speaking Athena-Jade's voice had risen far beyond the timid and fragile thing it had started as and her eyes were hard and furious yet as she came to a halt, chest heaving and knuckles white with the tension in her balled fists she seemed to feel something give way entirely within herself and the expression on Counsellor Daichi's face made it clear that he saw it too
"And so we have the core of the matter-"
"I wasn't good enough" Athena's voice cracked and gave way to a bitter, shaky laugh "I didn't even apply to Atlas Academy, I came out here to Menagerie to prove to everyone I'm not just my last name….the first thing I've ever really done for myself and I wasn't good enough; has everybody been laughing at me this whole-"
"No" Yatsuhashi raised a hand to cut her off "I can wholeheartedly say that you are by far your own harshest critic Miss Slate and if I may say so, the fact that you're so thoroughly unaccustomed to failure speaks to how regularly you have succeeded in your efforts, however it is through failure that we learn" Athena took several breaths to try and steady herself, not as deep as she would have liked and still far too shaky-
"So then why-"
"Whilst I was not directly involved in the team formation process I have referred to Professor Adel's notes" Yatsuhashi interjected "You were certainly a candidate for leadership prior to the initiation in Hammerfall Canyon however based on performances it was deemed that Astra was more suitable due to the planning that you noted, they used every available tool at their disposal to achieve a goal rather simply relying on their own abilities….It was also expected that would carry over into day to day team operations, that they would simply be better suited to organising and motivating people from various backgrounds to work together"
"So they're in charge because they're a people person" Athena sighed glumly "And I went and ruined everything without even trying, we can barely been in the same room as each other"
"Miss Slate….may I call you Athena?" Yatsuhashi waited until the Faunus before him had given her consent before continuing "Athena I will be blunt, have you been a bad Huntress? No, however you have certainly been a bad friend and team-mate….the situation is not what anyone would like it to be however it is far from irreparable, I speak from experience on that matter"
"Experience?" Athena cocked her head slightly
"Indeed, Team CFVY were….not what we should have been during out first year as students" Yatsuhashi gave a slow, lamenting sigh before a small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth "If I remember correctly your father was one of the first to call out the distance between Velvet and the rest of the team and my first meeting with Gangrel Slate very nearly ended in blows….somehow we became quite good friends after"
"I honestly didn't know that" Athena mumbled "My parents don't really talk about the war very much"
"Understandable" Yatsuhashi nodded "However there were some good times at Beacon, when things were less complicated that I'm sure they would love to share with you….If you'll permit me to be a little less than professional I'd suggest talking to your mother or Aunt Ruby about the early days of their partnership"
"Thanks, I might do that" Athena almost managed a smile before adding "So….am I in trouble?"
"You're being observed more closely in classes, solely for your own benefit" the counsellor answered, giving a gesture that made it clear that the meeting if Athena wished it to be whilst also adding "My door is open to any student that feels I can help them with any issues they may have and as a final word Athena I'd like to say that whilst your drive and determination are commendable they've been misguided….the decision about the leadership of Team MARZ has been made, you simply have to choose if you're going to accept it and become your best self or continue your current course of action"
"Thank you Mister Daichi" Athena bowed her head slightly in a show of respect as she rose from her seat and turned to leave, in her mind the answer to the counsellors' question was clear; she intended to be the best version of herself and now that she had her answers it was clear to her that would involve learning how to function as part of a team, however how to go about earning the trust and friendship that would require was a question that she had no answer to, a simple apology would not be enough.
Fortunately the young Faunus knew who would have answers.
Regalia Russet had awoken to an empty and still largely barren dormitory and a note from Astra explaining her partners' absence, after reading it she had briefly pondered where the other half of Team MARZ might be before taking advantage of the solitude and taking a long shower which used most if not all of the hot water, the only real of way of managing the sheer mass of hair that the Raccoon Faunus kept tied back in a single long grey-brown lions' tail. From there, wearing most of her combat attire simply out of habit but leaving her cracked and worn leather jacket behind Regalia had returned once again to the campus garage, toolbox in hand and finding it slightly emptier than it had been during the week as she prepared to continue work on Clunker until Astra joined her.
That had been several hours ago although Regalia was not as bothered by that fact as she might have been if her partner had simply departed unannounced, moreover her mind and hands were currently occupied by a delicate task that she was on the verge of completing; one of the unconscionably numerous parts of her beloved jetbike to suffer damage during her journey to Port Alistair had affected the two way radio built into its' digital dashboard and whilst she had been provided with a Scroll by the academy she still wanted to repair the damaged components simply as a matter of course, but also because it would be far easier to contact home through tried and tested methods. To that end the mechanically minded young woman hunched over the handlebars of the jetbike, muttering a fluent stream of curses and lucky incantations under her breath despite the screwdriver clenched between her teeth until finally she achieved what she felt was success.
"Okay, now to test it" Regalia whispered to herself, activating the communication system even though the entirety of Clunkers' dashboard was still removed and laying in several pieces around her to reveal the masses of wiring beneath; a crackle of static and a high pitched and distorted tone that assaulted sensitive ears confirming that her repairs had worked and from there the only choice to make was who it would be that Regalia tried to contact.
A decision that was laughably easy to make.
"Come on, come on, pick up….Ground control to Major-" her mutterings were cut short by the sound of a channel being opened and before the recipient could speak Regalia exclaimed "HEY MUM!"
"Good morning Regalia" the low, smokey and wheezing voice that the Racoon Faunus had missed replied, accompanied and punctuated by the incessant rumbling and mechanical clanking sounds of the home they shared "Well, the academy must be doing something right if you're awake at this hour and not complaining"
"Heh" Regalia merely shrugged and rolled her pale purple eyes as she raised her goggles "How is everybody? I've missed all of you"
"They'll be happier now that we know you're okay" Regalia's mother answered, an accusatory note not going unnoticed "You were supposed to radio in when you reached Port Alistair….we weren't sure if you made it"
"Sorry" Regalia dragged the word out and seemed to shrink in on herself "I ran into Grimm, Clunker took some damage and I haven't had time to fix it, haven't got all the parts I need either but I'll be able to make them….I've got a Scroll now but-"
"We don't have them" her mother finished with a sigh "One day we'll get a rig for a mobile CCT but until then Scrolls aren't reliable enough….but enough about that, how are you? Is Breaktide Academy everything you wanted it to be? If they can make the parts for that bike of yours then I assume so"
"It's fine" Regalia answered, far less enthusiasm in her own voice than she would have liked
"Regalia?" her mothers' voice came with a question and a warning, lying to someone of her status was never tolerated after all.
"It's fine, really it is" the younger Faunus answered again, trying to sound more upbeat as she added "The food's amazing, the amount of technology here is amazing it's like nothing we've ever seen before and I mean the academy itself, the workshops, the training grounds and even the other students weapons; especially their weapons….It's just….I don't know if it's what I thought it would be"
"You know you can always talk to me about your problems Regalia….No matter how busy I am I will always find or make time"
"Thanks" Regalia mumbled, the reassurance welcome and more necessary than she would have liked "It's just so different here….so much space and not like the wastelands, even being inside feels open and everyone is caught up in their own problems….Hunters are supposed to be teams but it doesn't really feel like it, I kinda miss the way we do things; everyone looking out for each other" there was a moment of silence and Regalia worried that perhaps the connection had failed though before she could frantically rewire anything her mothers' voice, muffled my machinery and static spoke once again.
"Have you made any friends?" Regalia slumped over the handlebars of Clunker, annoyed at how easily her mother had deciphered and struck at the core of her problems and more annoyed still at the answer she was forced to give
"Kinda….I've got my partner and they made some friends who I talk to-"
"But you were hoping to be the social butterfly, or the cool kid like in the movies?"
"I was hoping people wouldn't think I'm weird here as well, our people already do" Regalia struggled to bury the hurt in her voice at that comment, she knew her mother hadn't meant to sound flippant or glib but the tone had been there all the same.
"Regalia Russet of clan Aiktishaf" her mother took a slow breath before using Regalia's full name and the Racoon Faunus instinctively hung her head only to be caught off-guard by what followed "I'm certain I didn't raise a quitter and you have never once disappointed me, even if I don't understand some of your choices. There is nothing you cannot do if you put your mind to it and I'm certain you can overcome all of your problems in time….but if you truly think the life of a Hunter or life in a Kingdom is not for you then you will always be welcomed back; the clan has missed you, I have missed you"
"Thanks" Regalia wiped suddenly watery eyes and let out a sniffle "And I miss the clan but I'm not coming back, not now….I made a choice and I'm gonna stick to it; I've always wanted to be a Hunter"
"Then I have no doubts that you'll continue to make me proud"
"Thank you….and thank you for letting me wear your old jacket, it uh means a lot" Regalia admitted before sensing that the limited amount of free time at her mothers' disposal was coming to an end and adding "Anyway I know you're busy, tell everyone that I made it to Port Alistair….same bat-time, same bat-channel"
"You and your little sayings" her mother chuckled and then the channel fell silent, a final crackling of static announcing the end of the conversation. Regalia remained silent for a moment longer, trying to find the drive and momentum that she worked up prior the conversation with her mother but instead slipping off of her jetbike and reaching for the holster on Clunkers' side where Apex Scavenger was often stored only to find it empty as a noise caught her attention, springing to her feet and whirling around she saw that such a reaction was ultimately unnecessary however as stood before her was Astra, the Deer Faunus sporting their signature Mohawk and dark make up though they currently wore an old, dirty and battered outfit that was clearly something they didn't mind ruining further whilst in each hand they held a yellow folding styrofoam tray that the mess hall gave to students taking their food out
"Hey, sorry I'm late….I lost track of time in the gym and then stopped off to get food"
"Thanks" Regalia spoke slowly and cautiously as she added "Um….how long have you been stood there?"
"Long enough to know that I'm still fucking up as a partner and team leader" Astra mumbled in utter dejection, handing a tray of food over and continuing "I'm sorry, I know things with Team MARZ are a little ropey right now and I'm trying to work on that I really am….but I can promise that nobody here dislikes you, you haven't done anything wrong and you're cool as fuck"
"You think I'm cool?"
"Everyone thinks you're cool!" Astra exclaimed, mouth half full with no small amount of exasperation "You bring Grimm down with a harpoon shotgun, you drove a custom jetbike across the wasteland….even Wolfram doesn't wanna cross the wasteland, he thinks it's full of maniacs who….wait, what's wrong?" Astra almost choked on food as they strove to correct whatever mistake they had made to cause Regalia's expression to instantly darken into something angry and pained
"I'm from the wastelands, Clan Aiktishaf are some of those maniacs" Regalia snarled, voice more fierce that Astra had heard it "But no we haven't robbed anybody you know, we're not primitive, we're not all inbred and no we're not cannibals either"
"Woah, woah, woah I didn't say any of that" Astra hastily defended "Look, I'm not even from Menagerie, I didn't know there were people actually living outside of the settlements other than the people building new settlements until today-"
"Who do you think finds good places for those new settlements?" Regalia huffed
"Wait so your people….you're like scouts?"
"We're one of the Vaccuan nomad clans….or at least we used to be" Regalia answered, the tension and anger slowly leaving her voice as she explained "When the Kingdoms decided to repopulate Menagerie, before I was born my clan made the journey here; we're traders, mostly scrap metal from battles or forgotten settlements that nobody else wanted to recover and after the war against Salem there was a lot of it on Menagerie….We've even found stuff from old Menagerie, before the Great War wiped it off the map. When we started travelling further away from where Port Alistair was going to be we started sending word back whenever we found ore and mineral deposits or anything else that the new Kingdom could use; they have their own ways of making the wasteland arable again but clans and tribes like mine are they reason they know where to set up camp. There wouldn't be a Menagerie without Clan Aiktishaf but the Kingdom loves to forget that just because we don't want to live behind walls"
"I think that my brother would absolutely love you" Astra managed a weak laugh, explaining as they saw Regalia's nonplussed expression "He's a Hunter but he's always on the move, actually lives on a ship with members of two different Anima tribes, he's not married but still basically married into the Nikosi y'know-"
"So….you don't think it's weird that I've spent most of my life living in the wasteland?"
"I mean it explains a lot, like why you can build a jetbike but had never heard of contactless payment, or why you talk….well, like you"
"Say hello to my little friend" Regalia retorted whilst offering her partner a rude gesture with one hand and flick at the solid exterior of their antlers with the other which only served to make Astra laugh out loud
"Yeah exactly like that" Astra grinned before becoming more serious as they added "But no really, your people sound cool, you've gotta tell me all about it"
And Regalia decided that maybe things were going the way she had hoped after all.
Coco Adel had chosen to take advantage of the fact that very few, if any of her students would spend their first Saturday at Breaktide Academy, possibly their fist weekend on Menagerie as a whole training; experience dictating that whilst a handful would likely use the gym during the morning the other facilities that the campus boasted, including its' state of the art firing range would go untouched, with that in mind the still active, lean and muscular woman had strolled into the sizeable room located within an area of the academy where any mishaps would not cause lasting or vital damage intending put both her own abilities and the latest servicing of her iconic mini-gun through their paces.
Only to find the area already in use.
"Well that's a first" Coco noted quietly to herself under her breath as she peered over the rim of her signature sunglasses and took in the sight of a First Year student hard at work. A second, lingering glance revealed that it was Zirconia Shadowmoon of Team MARZ with her weapon, Sunriser Cain in its' ranged form as she stood with her mechanical legs braced and tied back mass of black spikes of hair giving her dramatic profile whilst her polished armour gleamed in the overhead lights and she unloaded shot after shot into an automated target that reacted to her assault. Much like the simulations that Ruby used to create replica Grimm from masses of Poly-Tech designed nanobots and Hard-Light Dust the shooting range could create replicas of any number of opponents or scenarios, even being equipped with enough lasers to return fire if that was what a user desired; Coco herself had been intending to practice her aim with her rapid-firing heavy weapon in a simulation of a rescue situation where she would have to cut down targets without hitting markers indicating civilians that were dangerously close to them however Zirconia was practising her aim on a Hard-light construct the size and shape of a person which twirled a staff in its' hands at blinding speed to deflect her shots into nearby shielding and it was with a start that the Headmistress realised that the Grasshopper Faunus was attempting to counter one of the moves that the Second Year student Arslan had employed against her.
Which meant that this was a custom program that Zirconia had designed an implemented herself in less than twenty four hours.
"Do I need to be concerned about you taking matters into your own hands and looking for a rematch?" Coco asked, tone just playful enough to mask any sudden concerns that had arisen as she strolled over to where Zirconia stood, prompting the Grasshopper Faunus to thumb the safety of her weapon and aim it elsewhere for good measure as she turned to face Coco, a bashful look of mild panic crossing what little of her features were not covered by her cape as she understood what was being implied
"No Professor, not at all" she answered quietly but earnestly "But the only good thing about failure is what we can learn from it, even if this isn't the lesson Professor Altan was hoping to teach"
"Relax kid it was a joke, I'm not that scary and especially not a weekend" Coco gave a lopsided smirk as she regarded the teen before her "Gotta admit I do like your attitude though, that kind of get up and go is what makes good Hunters….but shouldn't you still be resting, especially with it being your first weekend here?"
"I was cleared to train by Nurse Kintsugi….but if you want me to leave so you can train I will" Coco couldn't help but cock her head and let out a slight sigh at the younger woman's response, taking a moment that grew dangerously close to becoming an awkward silence to consider her next words she finally spoke in a tone that was a little more gentle than her usual direct and unintentionally abrasive demeanour
"I'm just concerned that some of my new students aren't settling in as well as I'd hoped, my duty of care covers more than just training accidents" Coco paused and gave Zirconia a once over, dredging details from her transcripts from the back of her mind before continuing "You're from Neo Vale city, the same as your team leader….hell it was my home turf back when it was just called Central Vale; I thought you might be bonding with them"
"Astra had other plans today" Zirconia answered simply "Also Astra and I might be from the same city but we didn't know each other prior to attending Breaktide"
"Ah that's right, your recommendations didn't come from one of the prep schools"
"No professor, I was….privately educated" Coco fought the urge to give a low whistle at that, her own family had been fairly well to do when she had been a teenager; owning a restaurant that was frequented by the rich and famous including several Hunters who had critiqued and advised a much younger Coco but having private instruction spoke of an altogether different level of wealth
"Well if you're struggling to adapt to life on campus my own office is always open, as is the student counsellor's but if I can give some advice, it might be worth approaching your partner; I'm sure you and Athena have some common ground although she was at least partially publicly schooled"
"I am trying Professor, things have been….tentative" Zirconia answered, seemingly unable to shake a sense of respectful deference or professionalism when speaking to Coco "Actually I believe Athena should be available now, I'll speak with her and see how her meeting with the student counsellor went, enjoy your training session Professor" with that the Grasshopper Faunus turned and hopped away, cybernetic limbs making almost no noise at all as they impacted against the pristine tiles of the floor and Coco took a moment to watch her student leave, appreciating the stylistic choices that had gone into Zirconia's combat attire even if the outfit she herself would never have worn at any age; her mind turned steadily to other matters however as she regarded Zirconia Shadowmoon as a whole
"Teenagers, difficult as always" she finally breathed out, musings about whether she should be concerned about an isolated student or simply impressed at her self-motivation proving inconclusive; though as she began entering the settings for own training session Coco took care to save the parameters that Zirconia had created for a later date whilst also privately wishing that her own son could be so motivated in his own studies.
Unbeknownst to her partner Athena-Jade Slate had departed from Breaktide Academy almost as soon as her meeting with Yatsuhashi Daichi had ended, halted only briefly by a return to Team MARZ's dormitory so that she could change into her combat gear as whilst an attack was unlikely the fact remained that she was undeniably famous and criminals would forever be opportunistic so amour was always a good idea and more importantly a tank-top, sleeveless jacket and denim shorts was for more suited to the scorching climate of an afternoon in Menagerie than her previous, far more formal outfit.
Athena did not, much to her chagrin and mild annoyance know the city of Port Alistair as well as she would have liked or indeed at all and found its' haphazard and almost whimsical way of arranging itself far less intuitive to navigate than the utilitarian and cuboid grid-like layout of Atlesian hive-cities however the Bear Faunus did have access to a Scroll and no small amount of Lien so it had been little trouble to simply find a taxi that would take her to one of very few places in the city she now called home outside of the academies' campus that she actually knew and tip the driver generously for their service.
The home of her Aunts.
"Sal-u-tations!" Penny Rose, formerly Polendina, currently wearing a pale green sundress with a pink floral pattern exclaimed, dragging the word out as she opened the front door only seconds after Athena had knocked on it.
"Hi Aunt Penny, hope you don't mind me coming over unannounced?" the young Faunus shuffled somewhat nervously as, whilst Ruby and Penny were not her Aunts in the strictest sense they had always been considered such and considered amongst Athena's favourite Aunts and Uncles the fact remained that they saw each other less than she would have liked, the pair of legendary Hunters travelling across Remnant much less after they had their own children.
"It is always sensational to see you" Penny beamed almost tugging Athena into the house and the younger woman allowed herself to be led inside taking a moment to marvel at the interior of the Rose family home as she did so; from the outside the house had appeared like any other in the comfortable and upper middle class suburb of Port Alistair however its' interior boasted much of the same start of the art technology that lined the halls of Breaktide Academy all of which was operated by an artificial intelligence by the name of Pearl yet none of this took away from the cosy warmth of the house whose walls bore dozens of framed photographs including those of Team RWBY in their heyday, Ruby and Penny's wedding day, several photographs of Athena-Jade's twin cousins Tai-Jaune and Summer-Pyrrha along with a handful of an older teen or young adult who bore a striking resemblance to Penny; Nickel Polendina, the android sent to dispose of Ruby during Salem's second campaign against Remnant who had been adopted by the family.
Athena's attention was dragged away from the photographs as Penny led her into the living room, where she was immediately beset by a blur of crimson petals.
"Oh gosh, look at you! Look at how much you've grown!….I didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone in class but you've gotten so big, look at these muscles!" Ruby Rose gasped, pulling Athena into a hug so tight that she swore she could hear her ribs creak under the sudden pressure as the air was squeezed from her lungs, Ruby effortlessly lifting her niece off of the ground for a few moments before fixing Athena with her remaining silver eye and her faintly glowing, ever-adjusting cybernetic replacement and realising that her niece did in fact need to breathe. Athena gasped and sputtered for a moment, sucking air back into her lungs before managing to give a thumbs up gesture as she finally spoke
"Hey Aunt Ruby, I've missed you too….Which is kinda weird when we have class together almost every day"
"Yeah but I'm Professor Rose at work, I'm Aunt Ruby outside of the Academy"
"I'll try not to slip up in class, oh and the twins were excited to be in Atlas when I saw them….when they weren't making fun of my hair" Athena managed a weak grin at that, though now that she was finally here with her Aunts before her she felt herself suddenly growing nervous; not nearly enough to dissuade her but enough to leave a lump in her throat and have her searching for other topics of conversation to delay the inevitable, Penny however clearly noticed that her niece was stalling and keeping herself from saying something
"The undercut looks wonderful….is there something we can help you with?"
"I-well, I….yeah there is" Athena sagged, already unimpressive height seeming to crumple beneath its' own weight as she turned to Ruby Rose, most famous Huntress on Remnant and the inspiration for a generation; speaking a small and worried voice "Aunt Ruby….I think I've messed up"
"Penny, can you go and make some coffee please?" Ruby asked gently, directing Athena into a seat as the copper-haired android left
"You had a meeting with Yatsuhashi today" Ruby noted, sensing instinctively what the discussion would be about "You're worried you might have ruined things with Team MARZ?"
"You think I haven't?" Athena asked, sinking sullenly into the chair with a defeated expression "Some of the stuff I said to Astra….I've been, ugh I've been an evil bitch-sorry. How did I let things get this bad, I was just….Aunt Ruby I was just trying to be the best Hunter I could be, I just wanted all my hard work to mean something so I could say that I didn't only get where I am because I'm Weiss Schnee and Gangrel Slate's daughter" Ruby struggled not to crack a smile, managing to do so for an almost heroic amount of time before finally admitting defeat and explaining herself as she caught sight of Athena's wrinkled snout and affronted huff.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh I know I shouldn't but….all of this to prove you're more than just a name, angry about not being team leader" Ruby paused and grinned even wider before delivering her punchline "AJ you've tried so hard to be your own person you've circled back around and become Weiss"
"What's that supposed to mean?" the question did nothing but send Ruby into a hit of giggles which sounded oddly sweet coming from the scarred, tattooed and fierce looking veteran who could slay Grimm by the thousand with ease.
"AJ listen to me you're gonna be fine" Ruby smiled as she regained her control and saw that Athena still looked utterly crestfallen "I'll be honest with you, the way you've been acting had been a problem, especially when I know that it's not who you really are and that you can do so much better….But it's not some unfixable disaster, you know you've made a mistake and you want to fix it, that's the first step"
"But how" Athena all but moaned "I don't think it's something that just saying sorry is going to fix-"
"Have you tried?" Ruby asked pointedly "The best apology is always changed behaviour, but admitting you made a mistake and hurt people is a good start"
"I….I'm just scared" Athena admitted, finally giving voice to one of the roots of her worries "I don't know how Astra will take it, there's no telling if I'm gonna get goofy Astra who wants be Team WULF's cheerleader or crazy Astra who doesn't mind spending a night in jail after beating up burglars"
"Oh I heard about that" Ruby snickered "I really am gonna have to do a public service announcement the next time in Vale, something that stops kids from trying to do what I did….but as for Astra, they're just trying to figure themselves out, the same as you, the same as every other teenager ever. You wanna fix things with Team MARZ then it has to be you to take the first step because you're the one that owes an apology"
"I guess….thanks Aunt Ruby" Athena finally managed to sigh, mind already racing as she tried to figure out the best way to tackle the problem, realising that for once her penchant for the direct approach and simply tackling things head on might be for the best.
"Cheer up, things will work out" Ruby smiled "But in the meantime, how are you? Outside of, well y'know….Are you eating right, have you managed to make any friends outside of your team, are you sleeping properly, you look tired?
"It's the weather here, the heat is waking me up too early" Athena lied, not wanting to trouble her Aunt with the truth about her lack of sleep and choosing to deflect attention away from the rest of her questions; Ruby nodded in understanding though something in her expression suggested that she knew that she was being lied to however before the conversation could go any further Penny returned holding a tray filled with mugs of coffee and several snacks
"I don't know how you take yours, so I used half as much sugar as Ruby takes as a benchmark" she noted, getting a grin and a thank you from Athena in return
"So what's teaching at Breaktide like?" Athena asked, eager to move the conversation away from her own failings "You were talking about Vale kids trying to copy you Aunt Ruby, has anybody tried to copy you here?"
"Every couple of years we'll get a pair of students who try and use something like Blake and Yang's signature move, it's actually really cute….at every school dance since Beacon there's been a team that try to be Team JNPR-"
"And also the food fights" Penny interjected, freckled face lighting up with a smile "Coco had to threaten to fire Ruby after the first incident at Breaktide, she was the referee"
"Worth it" Ruby grinned, leaving Athena exhaling steaming coffee through her nose as she burst out laughing.
The settlement of Stalwart stood close to the opposite coast of Menagerie to the Capital City of Port Alistair and consisted largely of farmsteads, each of which had been restored to fertility from the blasted and cursed state it had been found in by the efforts of both a Spring Maiden and teams of experts. Each farm had a respectable amount of land attached to it and the village was built around a central hub which housed the necessary amenities whilst an armed perimeter wall enclosed the entire settlement, a handful of men and women forming a local militia who aided the pair of nominally retired Hunters who called their home.
It was in one of the houses closest to the centre of Stalwart that Wolfram Ironside had been born and raised and here that he had returned to with Team WULF in tow and where Wolfram's mother, a middle-aged woman of Mistrali descent whom the young man had inherited his rather uncommon hair colour and if stories were to be believed at least some of his fierce and commanding nature from had, just as the young man had hoped and expected utterly adored and doted on the team that would be Wolfram's second family for the next four years and most likely much longer.
Ursinia had managed to make a truly remarkable first impression first simply by virtue of being a frankly enormous and powerfully built country girl which Wolfram's mother, being from a rural community on the continent of Anima herself had appreciated and then ingratiated herself further still with her simply glowing personality and impeccable manners that were only made all the more endearing by peculiar turns of phrase and a steadfast refusal to call her partners' mother anything other than Ma'am. It was a testament to how easy Wolfram found workin with Ursinia to be that when his mothers' comments about him being lucky to have 'such a fine young woman willing to deal with his nonsense' as a partner had started to grow dangerously close to being insinuations he had not been entirely mortified.
Laser and Diabla had managed to stir something altogether more maternal and protective in the older woman as some silent woes that the pair carried with them had seemed to tug at her heartstrings and instincts. Wolfram had been unable to keep himself from laughing as his mother had fussed over the former, taking Laser's wiry an emaciated, skulking form as a sure sign that the teen was in dire need of proper food which Laser himself had responded to with gratitude and self deprecating humour as he answered the many questions that Wolfram's mother has bombarded him with; the answers had given very little in terms of specifics though more than one detail had made Wolfram wince or shift uncomfortably as he had listened with the complete lack of any mention of a family being suggestive. The Leader of Team WULF noted to himself that he might not have a mind quite as agile as Astra's but he was beginning to suspect that at least some of Laser's usual chattiness was an attempt at misdirection.
Diabla had been another matter entirely, she had divulged that she hailed from the Free Cities of Mantle that had seceded from Atlas rather than the icy and largely subterranean Kingdom itself though that information had almost felt as though it were being forced out of her and she had approached conversation with the woman whose home she was currently in with the same grim, sullen and detached coldness she did everything else; managing to irk Wolfram thoroughly though never crossing the boundary into outright rudeness that would have seen him react there and then, meaning it was an issue to be dealt with in private at a later date.
In the meantime he had something more important to deal with.
He had found himself in the living room of his childhood home and entirely alone, swallowing thickly as he reached down to pluck a small, silver framed photograph from the mantelpiece; the photograph itself was cracked and faded after clearly being folded and stored in a wallet or something similar for a considerable amount of time whilst a small, reddish brown stain had dried in a lower corner yet it still clearly showed a blue haired woman, tall and with the build of someone who could wrangle and enraged bull clutching a sleeping baby who could only be a much younger Wolfram to herself outside of the very house he now stood in whilst standing beside her, arm draped over her shoulders was a giant of a man, burly and striking with an enormous double-bladed axe slung across his back with steely grey eyes that his son had inherited and dark hair that was complemented by a full beard and chevron moustache partially covering a smile that seemed almost to have been hewn and carved into a more stoic face.
"Hey Dad" Wolfram whispered, swallowing thickly and fighting the urge to curse himself for the weakness and stupidity of his sentiments even as he forced himself to continue "I did it, I made it to the Academy….I'm a leader now-"
"Hey Wolfram" Laser's distinctly nasal and to Wolfram, especially at that moment irritating voice interrupted
"What?" the taller boy snapped gruffly, quickly forcing his emotions down only to realise that it was far too late for that, Laser had seen the photograph in his hands and all Wolfram could do was hope that the Vaccuan would be more interested in pawning the silver frame yet that bleak hope too was quickly dashed
"That your old man? Oh is that who we're heading out to see….we could just wait here until-"
"Nah man" Wolfram shook his head, unable to hold any anger in his voice or even raise it above a murmur "Dad's not coming home….not for a while now"
"Oh" Laser's face fell and the wiry boy shifted his weight uncomfortably "You wanna talk about-"
"Nah" Wolfram interrupted firmly before looking for anything to change the subject, a topic arising as he realised that whilst Diabla and Ursinia were still getting ready to leave Laser had helped himself to a truly ludicrous amount of the leftovers from the admittedly too-big dinner that Wolfram's mother had prepared.
"Seriously?" he snorted "You wanna just unplug the fridge and take that?"
"Hey take it as a compliment to your Mum's cooking?" Laser shrugged with a chuckle "We don't get food this good in the Overspill"
"The fuck is the Overspill?" Wolfram asked, instinctively ducking his head upon realising he had swore out loud in his mothers' house. Laser shuffled uncomfortably again, with his angular green-lensed visor raised his expression made it clear that he had revealed more than he intended but after a moment he answered.
"The Vaccuan overspill….basically it's a giant shanty town built onto the perimeter wall made out of whatever we can salvage" Laser let out a sigh more bitter than anything Wolfram had heard from him "The Capital took pretty heavy damage in the first war against Salem, airships falling on the city, Grimm breaking through sections of the wall and stuff. Entire districts that were there twenty-something years ago aren't there any more and there's not really anywhere else for all those people to do, the outer settlements don't have space and the nomad tribes aren't gonna take us so all the people who'd been displaced built shelters out of those wrecked airships and everything else we beg, borrow and steal….Vaccuo sometimes let us take cover behind their walls for a few days when a big a Grimm horde comes knocking and they have to shell our homes to clear 'em out but uh, not exactly the kind of place you can get good food….or even consistent food really"
"Holy shit" Wolfram breathed out, realising just how much of Laser's magpie-like tendencies now made perfect sense and were entirely justified after spending his life being clearly considered as little more than human refuse or collateral damage "That's messed up-"
"It is what it is" Laser shrugged, tone betraying no hint of anything at all which if Wolfram were the sort of person to seek therapy or counselling for his problems would have seen him send Laser to seek help. The situation, which had grown far beyond Wolfram's emotional capabilities by this point was mercifully ended by the arrival of Ursinia, Diabla and his mother in the living room doorway which led out to a small hallway and the front door.
"You bring your new friends back here any time now Wolfie, it's been great having you home" a smile tugged at his mothers' lined and weary face as she added "Now go on, but don't you be causing mischief with those little hoodlums you used to be friends with….I haven't forgotten that time with the rocket locker you found"
"Wait he actually did that?" Ursinia laughed
"Don't worry Mum" Wolfram grinned "We might see a couple of the guys around but I'm planning on introducing the team to some of the folks on garrison duty before our flight, you guys wanna come meet the people who trained me?" Laser and Ursinia both shared a look that made it clear that each of them were holding back several jokes solely because Wolfram's mother was present whilst Diabla gave only the slightest of shrugs in response. As Wolfram made his way to the door his mother cornered him and pulled him into a crushing hug
"You be careful and stay warm now, it gets deathly cold on the island at night and too many of you Hunters wear jackets with no sleeves" before Wolfram could retort to what was clearly a well-meaning jibe at his own attire Diabla broke her silence, opening the door and delivering a sneer.
"We're Hunters, anyone who freezes to death was someone we didn't need anyway" whether it was the most inscrutable member of Team WULF's idea of a joke or not Wolfram didn't know, what was certain however was the way his mother's face dropped in response to the snappish comment, as though she'd been made to feel foolish for being concerned.
At which point Wolfram's goodwill towards his team-mate evaporated.
Diabla had made passed no more than a handful of the wood and stone town-houses that lined the streets within the innermost hub of the village of Stalwart before she was tackled to the ground by what felt like the force of a moving train.
"You don't ever!" a blow thundered into the back of her head and smashed her face into the ground "Come into my house and talk to my Mum like that! Who the fuck do you think you are?" before Diabla could give any kind of answer she found herself dragged from the ground and gripped tightly by the scruff of the neck, Wolfram hoisting her off of the ground just enough to meet his eyes which were filled with a fury that was almost inhuman as he leaned close
"Not even a sorry?" he demanded before throwing her away from him and continuing in a low voice that the word angry failed to encapsulate "Y'know what Diabla I tried to like you, I did; hell we all did but if you don't want to be liked then fine but that attitude of yours isn't gonna fly in the dorm, in classes, on missions and definitely not when you're talking to my Mum so either you fix it or I'll fix it for ya!" with that Wolfram turned and stalked away, leaving a scowling Diabla with one hand clenched into a trembling fist whilst she checked for blood and loose teeth with the other; only vaguely aware of Laser and Ursinia flanking her until the Scorpion Faunus spoke
"Now he seems the type to not hold a grudge, rather just get it all used up in one go" she drawled, patting Diabla gently on the shoulder "But that was his Mama and you were uncalled for"
"Probably should've said sorry" Laser noted with a shrug, Diabla remained silent and simply shrugged Ursinia off of her which the pair took as their cue to leave and catch up to Wolfram so that they could calm their leader down and salvage what had otherwise been an enjoyable Saturday.
"I told you I'm not here to make friends" Diabla muttered harshly to the empty and quickly cooling air as she began to trudge after her team-mates, silently wondering why they couldn't just leave her alone like everyone else.
The sky over Port Alistair was almost entirely black, with only the last few golden rays streaking and colouring the horizon when Athena-Jade finally returned to Breaktide Academy after spending far longer with the familiar comfort of family than she had originally planned, being sure to take several pictures with her Aunts Ruby and Penny that she could send to her parents, siblings and cousins at some point in the near future. It was then, no real surprise to her that when she finally reached Team MARZ's dormitory and slunk through its' doorway the rest of her team were already present.
"Hey Hops" she managed a weak and certainly forced smile as she first glanced at her partner who was currently sat on her bunk in the cramped and unwelcoming dorm reading a paperback novel that Athena was not familiar with, digitigrade cybernetic legs folded into a position that the Bear Faunus could not imagine being comfortable who gave her a silent nod of acknowledgement in return before turning her gaze towards Astra and Regalia who were huddled together on the Deer Faunus's bed, the two of them having a distinctly conspiratorial air about them as they pointed at various sections of the dozens of blueprints before them, talking quietly but animatedly and a moment later Athena realised that the discussion pertained to the ongoing repairs and possible modifications to the Racoon Faunus's jetbike as she spotted tool kits close by and several oil-stained rags left in places that made Athena want to throttle someone until, with no small amount of effort she managed to keep herself in check and her tone even.
"Hey Astra, can we talk?"
"I mean we can but why would you want to right?"
"Okay, I deserved that" Athena breathed out, accepting the truth of her own statement "But I wanted to apologise" silence seemed to ripple through the dormitory like a wave and now Astra looked up from the blueprints, suspicion that Athena could admit was not unfounded etched into the Deer Faunus's face whilst beside them Regalia wrung her hands as her grey-brown furred tail twitched with silent nerves. After a moment that stretched out for far too long Astra merely shrugged and nodded towards Zirconia
"Cool, start with the person you shot and go from there-"
"She did" Zirconia interrupted, her voice cutting Astra off despite its' perpetual quietness "We've already discussed what happened in Professor Altan's lesson, it was a lack of communication, nothing more"
"Hop- Zirconia….let me handle this, please" Athena-Jade took a step forward and braced herself, her refusal to work as part of her team had made her a damnable partner thus far though there was still no question in her mind that this was something that she needed to do alone.
"Look Astra I've been an ass-hole to you, to everyone here" she nodded to Regalia, admitting that her treatment of the taller, leaner and darker woman had been lacking as well "And I can't even say I didn't mean it because I did and if you all hate my guts I get it, I'll accept it 'cos I suck, I'm the suckiest-"
"So what changed?" Astra demanded, sternly cutting the alabaster Faunus off before her an attempt at amends could morph into self pity
"Yesterday changed things" Athena swallowed and for a moment Astra thought that she looked visibly ill "Zirconia I know you're okay but I could have killed you….I shot my partner and it, I dunno made things clearer for me, we-I need to do better and work as part of Team MARZ"
"Apology accepted" Regalia shrugged, turning all eyes towards herself "I mean, I can't speak for anybody else but we've all got bigger problems right? We don't have the time to be arguing with each other"
"Not yet" Astra shook their head, perfectly willing to accept their partners' reasoning especially in light of discovering where exactly she came from but still needed a truer sense of closure "I just wanna know why? I get that you wanted to be the team leader but what did I do to you that was so bad I deserved the way you've been treating me all week?"
"It wasn't even about you, not really" Athena mumbled, suddenly unable to meet Astra's eye "I just, I gave it my all and I worked so hard-"
"And you think the rest of us didn't or that we don't have families that we wanna make proud?" Astra demanded, more incensed by this than almost anything else.
"No!" Athena exclaimed "But it's different….your brother's a Hunter and a really famous, really talented one but it's different for you, everybody in my family is some kind of legend or prodigy….second best isn't good enough for me, it can't ever be good enough because whether my parents say it or not I will always have that to deal with, I will always have the pressure of being 'Almost as good as Arctus Slate' or 'A passable impression of Weiss Schnee' to the whole of Remnant and besides, not being good enough gets people hurt" Astra regarded his team-mate carefully and saw both the dark rings around her eyes and the suddenly haunted expression those last words brought to her face as her voice had become hushed for those last words, indicating that there was going unsaid and hinting at the reasons for the Bear Faunus's fitful sleep though rather than push that particular issue the Deer Faunus fiddled absently with the fiery red spikes of their Mohawk as they considered the rest of the explanation that had become something of a tirade before slowly rising to their feet.
"Guess we'll just have to be good enough" Athena looked up to see Astra standing before her wearing a tentative smile "But we need to be working together for that, you ready to give Team MARZ another try?"
"Definitely" Athena beamed, fighting the urge visible crumple with a sigh of relief before hastily adding "And can I ask for a tiny little favour….it's just that my sister has been wanting to meet the team and-"
"We need a team selfie" Astra laughed, producing their own Scroll and gesturing for Regalia and Zirconia to join them "Sure, but on one condition?"
"What is it?" Athena braced herself.
"We're spending tomorrow doing something about this dorm, it's worse than a jail cell in here" and with that Team MARZ finally, for each of its' constituent parts began to feel like a real team.
Author's Notes:
Well, we're halfway through the first volume so consider this a mid-season finale.
The first half of the Volume was introducing the team and bringing them to a baseline level of functioning, the second half of the volume will develop that and also introduce characters and plot points that will be important for the rest of the story, including antagonists.
I'm writing this on May 1st and might take a week off of writing but with my work rate and upload schedule it probably won't interfere with things.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Sometimes you've just gotta just go for a jog so you don't punch someone's teeth in.
Of course Team WULF were ruined, it is what we call in the UK "Freshers week" and they just hit the city.
Does Wolfram starting a fight at the first bar he went to surprise anyone? Also, the thing about different settlements on Menagerie giving each other shit for being founded by different Kingdoms….It's not a racism thing, think of it more like the way different areas of the UK give each other banter and if you're not familiar with that then listen to some of our football chants for an idea.
Would any story involving teenagers in a fantasy school/college setting be complete without the Mum friend giving knowing looks?
I had Wolfram do some exposition and Astra as the audience surrogate, hopefully without making it sound too much like exposition. Also the wild animals being affected by Salem's influence on Menagerie are just because the Team CFVY novels apparently added giant crabs?
Athena is that saying about sleeping bears personified.
AJ in a suit, you're welcome and I didn't even need to have a dance for it.
Little Fox, Team CFVY's kid….Introducing him now so it doesn't look like total plot convenience when he shows up later on; also yeah he's a bit of a duck but weren't we all at that age.
Now I still haven't read the novels but I still can't imagine Yatsu giving off anything other than good vibes.
So Team CFVY's kid who literally lives in the Academy used to date Ruby and Penny's daughter who is an up and coming world class athlete, no wonder he's got an attitude.
Yeah Coco has a different style to Ozpin, she'll let some things slide and occasionally let students fight it out but there will never be a Cardin in her academy.
Yatsu at least gave her a chance to speak up and tell him if Astra was the one instigating things and bullying behind closed doors which would have been listened to.
AJ trying so hard to be formal and remember her manners even here, Atlesian high society will do that.
"The first thing I've ever really done for myself and I wasn't good enough" and there it is.
I think that assessment is fair, Athena is provably a more capable one on one fighter but her plans were less successful during initiation and she found it a lot harder to recover and refocus when she met an obstacle, Astra can adapt and see the bigger picture.
Team MARZ are hardly the first team to have issues and this was a great way to call back to very start of this series, the start of The Downward Spiral.
I honestly had to remind myself just how much hair Regalia actually has.
Lucky incantations and her comment to Laser about it being bad karma to use stolen parts….she has superstitions about technology and although I won't go full Warhammer 40K "Cult Mechanicus" with it it's certainly an interesting idea.
The first Mum we're meeting today, I promise that we will actually meet Regalia's Mum soon enough which means I'll need a name and a design for her.
I'm trying to build on Regalia's character and trying to not make her Eagle Arc V2 but some similarities are going to be unavoidable.
"Regalia Russet of clan Aiktishaf" she got full named, also Aiktishaf is 'Discovery' in Arabic.
The quotes that Regalia sprinkles into conversation are gonna be fun.
I mean Astra makes a point, when you put it like that Regalia is cool.
So that was a little bit of world building that I couldn't keep from sounding like exposition but a) it will come in useful later and b) it gives a lot of context to Regalia, she's basically from a tribe of sand people or Tuscan Raiders but wants to be a Hunter; which is why she's considered an odd one by her people, why she was in awe of Astra's weapons and why she's so ready to forgive and make friends….you can't afford to be overly negative when there's no walls between you and the Grimm.
I've noticed that I find it really easy to write Zirconia's scenes from the perspective of another character….which may or may not be a choice I'm making for something later on in the story.
Do that bullet-time shit to Zirconia and she'll make sure you don't get to try it again….Also, she's apparently got skills with computers, note that down.
So Zirconia's backstory is one that I'm gonna have to give in drips because it ties directly to an overarching plot-line for not just First Year but the story as a whole, but yeah….she's RICH rich.
Also yeah, take the manners thing that AJ had with Yatsu and crank it all the way up to eleven for Zirconia.
I actually never write it as Sal-u-tations but I felt like making an exception for this one.
Of course Aunt Ruby has been waiting for a chance to gush over how big and strong AJ's gotten.
"AJ you've tried so hard to be your own person you've circled back around and become Weiss" Jesus Christ Ruby you didn't have to kill her like that….Also I cackled to myself typing "What's that supposed to mean?".
AJ letting slip something she's been concerned about since Chapter 02, that Astra might be a little too bas-ass and that she's a little intimidated by them.
That Ruby Rose PSA would be amazing and you know it.
The legacy of Team RWBY and Team JNPR must live on.
So this scene is a little longer than I intended, mainly because it ended up serving as something as a "Team WULF" as a whole scene rather than just Wolfram.
Wolfram's mother meeting Ursinia just went 'Like that' and you all know exactly what I mean, they've known each other for a week and already his Mum is making the 'Oh she's nice' comments.
Although we'll get into specifics of Ursinia's background later, they're honestly pretty straightforward which is probably why she's the one braincell of the team.
So Diabla is from the settlements that left Atlas rather than Atlas itself, the first piece of the puzzle that is her problem with AJ.
Okay so I'm imagining Wolfram's Dad as looking a little like Omni-Man but Viking….Also, in case any didn't get it, his Dad was a Hunter who died on the job and that folded, blood-stained photo was one that he had in his pocket when he died.
So, there's Laser's backstory; or at least enough of it to give an understanding of his character….it's one of those ones that I could drop in anywhere because the details of his past won't resurface during major plot points.
Also yeah, that's why he has climbing spikes in his boots….he lives in a shanty town made in the wreckage of an old airship propped up against Vaccuo's walls.
Callback to the line about using Rocket lockers as a sled.
Wolfram didn't get to go to a prep school, he learned from the retired Hunters and local militia.
Yeah Diabla just crossed a line, though I was mainly using this to show that despite seeming more functional Team WULF definitely have their own problems; namely that Wolfram himself, as shown by several instances in this scene alone is pretty emotionally stunted.
Also yay for cryptic comments.
Hops is gonna be a name that sticks.
The oil-rags making AJ want to throttle someone….look, there is no amount of mellowing out that is gonna lead to Weiss being okay with a messy house and you know it, her kids have picked that up.
Was Astra being bitchy, yes….have they earned it, also yes.
Even in her apologies Athena wants to go it alone and charge head first into it, she's still got work to do.
"And you think the rest of us didn't or that we don't have families that we wanna make proud?" is an entirely valid point, but I think AJ does have some grounds in saying that she will always be held to a different standard to other students.
We will get into why AJ doesn't sleep too well, it's not plot relevant but it's a callback to FADE: Legacy and I'm saving it for a bonding moment later on in the volume.
The state of the dorm has been a metaphor for the state of Team MARZ….now they're finally starting to fix it up.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Okay but which Sailor Moon theme? English or Japanese?
Yeah Ruby may still be a goof deep down but she has enough sense to not be the mediator in an argument between her old partner's daughter and one of her sister's star pupils; there's no winning there.
Funnily enough it wasn't Laser that started shit, Wolfram decided to act like a Leeds United fan at an away game.
Have another wholesome ending, God knows we've earned it after a few chapters of teenage angst.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.
