This week has dragged by. Three day migraine followed by some nasty headaches. I was so tired I called out of work on Tuesday. Got home from work on Wednesday and slept all the way to bedtime (which sounds a little silly, I know). Finally starting to feel awake again. So glad the weekend is here so I can relax a bit.
The journey to Anima should've been a big deal for Adam. The last time he set foot on the continent, he'd just signed up with the SDC after killing a man and setting a warehouse on fire to cover his tracks. Murder arson. Was that a thing? If not, he could just add it to the list of charges against him. Insurrection. Terrorism. Just being part of the White Fang technically made the last one true, at least in the eyes of Atlas.
Still, he'd left Anima in desperation, only to run straight into far more danger. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Then, after all he went through, he'd escaped Orostachys on a ship much like the one they were currently taking to Anima. He'd left to save his own skin. Now he'd come back to save others. The moment he caught sight of the shores of Anima should've been a poetic moment.
The mood was somewhat lessened by the man retching over the rail beside him.
"There, there," Adam said, rubbing the big man's back as he emptied his stomach into the sea. "It'll be okay."
"This is nothing," Jakob said from the other side of the poor guy. "You should've seen him the first time. Or smelled him. In hindsight, maybe Taco Tuesday wasn't a great idea on the first night."
"That's not funny," Bane complained, clutching desperately to the rail as the final bits of lunch departed.
"Really? Made me laugh."
Adam hadn't been the least bit surprised to see the pair volunteer to join their mission, though it looked like Bane already regretted the decision. In fact, he'd spotted one or two others from Orostachys aboard. They always nodded at the sight of him, practically bowing their heads every time he came near. He'd tried reminding them he was just a new White Fang member like the rest of them, but it proved pointless. To them, he was still the Hero of Orostachys, no matter what.
It hardly helped that his uniform looked different from almost anyone else. Bane and Jakob matched everyone else in their black and white ensemble, though Bane wore it better than most with his impressive size and massive arms unburdened by sleeves. Jakob wasn't exactly small, either, but stood next to Bane, everyone looked , it matched the uniform on almost every faunus in the White Fang, including everyone here for the mission except Sienna.
And him.
The outfit they'd provided was simple enough. The short-sleeved red shirt fit snugly, mostly hidden under a black vest. Unlike the mostly white tops of his fellow members, his outfit didn't sport a lick of the brighter color anywhere. The rest of the outfit matched, though. Black pants. Black boots. Even his sheath was black, making him stand out as more of a shadow among a field of brighter uniforms.
She's using you. Adam shook the voice away, if not the truth of its words. He'd spotted it easily enough. The only other person dressed differently also happened to be dressed in mainly red and black. Corsac and Fennec had embraced red in their attire as well. In fact, they were basically the only ones who used it. As the ones to provide his new uniform, he had a feeling the inclusion was a purposeful one.
They wanted to identify him as one of them. They wanted him to be noticed - to lead. Sienna had said as much before. She wanted him to inspire the White Fang and become their symbol - something he'd already agreed to, as he recalled. If this was part of her plan, it was working. He stood out like a sore thumb. Everywhere he went on the ship, people watched him, even if just because he looked different. Considering the only other person wearing a special uniform was in charge of the entire operation, it basically marked him as second in command, despite being brand new.
Which only made the others talk more.
"Adam, do you have a moment?"
And then there was that. Sienna didn't ask to speak with people. If she had something to say, she'd come right up to you and say it. He'd seen it time and time again on the ship, but with him it was different. She'd call him aside, waiting patiently for him before quietly talking to him about the mission, asking about his men, or even just chatting about training plans back in Menagerie. To everyone else, it must've looked like some sort of meeting of the minds - a conference between leaders rather than orders to a subordinate, even though the latter definitely applied better.
Request or not, Adam knew better than to keep her waiting as he hustled over, stumbling only a little with the roll of the ship. "Did you need something?" Adam asked loud enough for any prying ears. He wasn't as keen on looking like a leader yet. Respect couldn't be forced - he'd earn it from everyone one step at a time no matter how badly Sienna wanted to drive him across that finish line.
"We'll be landing soon," she said needlessly. He hadn't exactly missed the approaching shoreline. "I'll be sending you with the first landing. There shouldn't be any Grimm around, but better safe than sorry."
Adam's thoughts exactly. Grimm didn't play by anyone's rules. Just because her scouts claimed the area was clear didn't mean there wasn't something lurking in the shadows. Better to err on the side of caution than be caught with your pants down. There was just one thing Adam still didn't understand. "About that. How exactly are we getting ashore?" Their ship was too big to go that far inland and he couldn't see any dock nearby. In fact, he didn't see any signs of life.
In answer, Sienna simply smirked and nodded toward the rail. "You can always swim, if you want."
Adam sighed at the lame joke. "No, I mean…how are we getting the wagons ashore?"
"Wagons?" As if summoned by her words, the cargo cover next to them groaned and began to pull apart, revealing a trio of trucks in the hold waiting for offloading. "I'm afraid we're not quite that old fashioned around here."
A large, built in crane swung over the opening and began hoisting one of the large trucks up and out, all while the ship came closer and closer to shore. Far closer than Adam felt they should. He kept waiting for the ship to jolt to a halt against the seabed or scrape against a rock somewhere, but nothing happened. When he felt they couldn't possibly get any closer, the ship turned sharply to the left, following the shoreline until sand quickly became replaced by stone. Ahead, the water crashed against a rising cliff.
Orders were blasted out from the speakers on deck, causing men and women to rush to and fro with practiced ease. In no time at all, the anchor was dropped and they came to a quick halt, bobbing along on the waves so close to the gentle beginnings of the cliff face that he could almost touch it. A large board was passed up from the hold and extended out to form a gangplank. "You're up, Adam."
Adam nodded and carefully made his way across to shore, hand on his hilt as he eyed the treeline ahead. A few men hurried across behind him, forming a rough line of rifles waiting for whatever dared approach. When nothing did, Adam marched forward, with the line behind him fanning out to secure the area better. As soon as they had room, the first truck was swung over the side of the ship and deposited behind them. Soon, the entire convoy was offloaded and ready to move out.
"The crew will take the ship outside Anima's waters," Sienna announced, more for their benefit than instructions to the crew, who had already pulled the gangplank back. "We'll radio them on the way back for pickup. For now, everyone load up on the trucks. We've got a long ride ahead of us."
Adam had to wonder why Soji and Rikyu had never thought of getting trucks to replace their old wagons. Soji would probably make up some excuse about sticking to the old ways and the simplicity of the past. Tradition was nice and all, but there was something to be said for speed and efficiency. Adam dreaded to imagine what traveling to Shidekobushi would be like in wagons, not to mention the pain of bringing teams of horses along on the ship.
Sienna had assigned him to the rear truck, claiming the passenger seat of the lead for herself. He'd hopped in the back to get a better view, in case anything decided to sneak up on them. Not that it would be too hard. The noise of the engines certainly made it hard to hear much around them. Well, that and the constant chatter of everyone else in the truck.
"Is that really him?"
"I heard he killed more than twenty humans in Orostachys."
"Did you see him on the news before we left?"
"Can't believe they'd do something like that."
"I'm right here," Adam finally interrupted, silencing the handful of admirers before he felt the need to hurl himself headfirst out the back. Seriously, did they not think he could hear them from four feet away? With a sigh, Adam figured he might as well address the Goliath in the room. "Look, I'm sure some of you have heard some interesting stories about me, but-"
"They're all true."
Adam glared at Jakob for his interruption, earning a chorus of laughter from the uniformed faunus around them. "Really?"
"Okay, so maybe I embellished it a little," Jakob admitted, proving he was in fact the source of Adam's latest misery. Not counting Blake's training. And the whole back and forth with Ghira and Sienna. Not to mention his elusive Semblance.
On second thought, Jakob was just one of many problems he had to fix.
"Jakob, do you have to do that?"
"What? It's good for morale." Maybe a little too good. The others in the truck looked at him like some otherworldly figure. Bane nodded along from across the truck. "Besides, not everything I said was made up. You did kind of lead a rebellion that saved the lives of all us workers."
"Not all of them." There'd been plenty who died, even before the actual fight. Too many. Orostachys was as much a mass grave as a mine.
"Hey, none of that now," Jakob insisted, nudging his shoulder. "Perk up, buddy. We're out on the open road."
Adam shook his head. "I've seen enough open road for one lifetime." Even so, it did feel nice to get away from it all. Riding along through the wilderness with a load of supplies felt pretty nostalgic…if you ignored the armed faunus and the roar of the truck engines.
"Yeah, well I haven't." And just like that, Adam's good mood disappeared. He'd kind of forgotten about Jakob's past. When was the last time he'd tasted freedom like this? Jakob picked up on his souring mood pretty quick. "And none of that gloom and doom. This is an adventure! Just you and your trusty sidekicks going on a little vacation."
"To save an oppressed village from being slaughtered by Grimm," Adam felt the need to add. "And isn't lounging around back in Kuo Kuana more of a vacation than this?"
"Maybe for you." What was that supposed to mean? "Not all of us get to live in a mansion and spend our days being wined and dined by the two most powerful faunus around."
"It's not like that." Even as he said those words, Adam knew they weren't true. He'd been the only one to keep a room in the Belladonna mansion while Ghira and Kali fought for his loyalty. Adam lowered his voice a bit. "And that one's your fault."
"Mine?"
"Yeah, yours. If you hadn't turned me into some mythical warrior, they wouldn't even care about me. Now I'm caught in the middle of a power struggle with both of them wanting me to work under them."
"I know which one I'd like to get under." Jakob's lecherous eyebrow waggle filled in the blanks. "You think you could convince her I'm worth focusing on? I wouldn't mind swearing allegiance to her. Certain parts of her, anyway."
"Classy." At least he was perving on someone closer to his own age this time. If he'd mentioned Blake again, then Adam might've introduced him to the open road personally.
"What? You tellin' me you haven't thought about it?"
Maybe. But he didn't go around talking about his urges like that. Some things were better left unsaid. "We're not like that. There's nothing between us."
"Oh, I bet there's nothing between you when you're up in her office all day. Guess your recruitment came with a few perks. So tell me, did you sign the papers before or after you- yow!"
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Bane answered, not at all apologetic for cutting off whatever horrid scene Jakob had been about to describe. Adam didn't need those images in his head when they got back.
"You're no fun," Jakob complained, rubbing his shin. The rest of the passengers laughed and traded hushed comments, no doubt enjoying the show.
"No more talking about Sienna," Adam ordered before he decided better safe than sorry. "In fact, no talking about any women.
"Ah, c'mon. That's not fair."
"I mean it. The last thing we need on this mission is your raging hormones."
"But it'll drive all the Grimm away with my positivity."
Adam facepalmed so hard he almost fell out of the truck. "That's not how it works. Plus, I'm more concerned about the women turning on us before the Grimm ever get here."
"Fine." Jakob looked around for more entertainment, never content to just sit still. "We could talk about your training with the Belladonna girl."
"I said-"
"She's a girl, not a woman." A loophole. One that Adam would have to mercilessly crush. "Alright, no training talk. How about tales from the camp? I'm sure everyone would love to hear more about the Hero of Orostachys."
Oh gods, no. "How about we talk about what you two have been up to lately." Or anything that didn't involve Adam in some way. "What do they have you guys doing all day?"
Apparently, not much. Bane's colossal size meant he spent most days helping in the supply warehouse, moving furniture, or whatever else the less monstrous men of the White Fang couldn't handle as easily. Jakob and most of the others alternated between target practice, drills, and classrooms.
"You? In a classroom?" Jakob didn't exactly have teacher's pet written all over him.
Jakob shrugged. "A little boring, but nothing too bad. Mostly just learning how the White Fang operates and some practical skills like using a radio or rationing food. Things we might actually get to use one day."
That didn't sound too bad. He wondered if he should offer to help teach a little from his time on the caravan. Fire starting. First aid. Foraging. Hunting. Then again, they probably had people with a lot more experience in each of those. He should probably stick to working on his own training before he worried about anyone else. Other than Blake, of course. He had a feeling getting rid of her would be almost impossible now.
Adam half-expected Sienna would be grooming them all to become soldiers. Sure, they were training with rifles and pistols, but they had to be able to defend themselves. Not like they were fixing bayonets and charging a line of dummies.
Which reminded him. "If anything happens, stay together and only shoot if something comes near you. Sienna and I should be more than enough to deal with whatever's ahead. The last thing we need is one of you charging in and getting yourself hurt."
Jakob rolled his eyes, not taking him seriously at all. "We'll be fine, right guys?"
"We've got this!"
"No Grimm can handle the might of the White Fang!"
"Bet I can kill more than you!"
"This isn't a joke!" Adam practically yelled, fighting past their boasting. "This is serious. Deadly serious. How many of you even have your aura unlocked?" One or two hands went up. Adam focused on them in an instant. "And how long do you think you can hold it when an Ursa decides to use you for a punching bag?" The hands sank back down. "None of you are ready to face what's out there."
Only Jakob was foolhardy enough to answer. "We'll be fine. We're-"
"We're not ready," Bane said, his voice low but decisive.
"Bane?"
"I've seen the Grimm. I've seen how big they are. Their speed. Their ferocity. It's not…it's not something any of us can hope to face."
"How did you survive?" someone asked from further up.
"Because of him." And just like that, the legend of Adam Taurus grew again. Adam had almost forgotten about that fateful day. "He fought them. Cut them down before I even knew what was happening."
"You killed one, too," Adam tried, shifting some of the awe back on the big man.
"Only by accident," Bane countered. "It ran straight into my chainsaw trying to kill me." Yeah, and Adam's first kill had been kicking a Grimm out of a tree. A kill was a kill. "After that, I ran back to camp. Adam charged into the Grimm to fight."
Dang it, Bane! How was Adam supposed to stop the stories if they kept sharing more? Every eye was fixed on Adam. Well, the cat was out of the bag. Might as well take advantage of it. "He's right. If the Grimm come, your best bet is to stay together. Stay behind me and let me handle everything. If any slip past, it'll take all of you to bring it down. Stick together, support one another, and you'll be just fine."
"What about you?" another voice questioned. "Who's gonna support you?"
"I don't need support." At least, he'd better not. The truth was, if there was anything out there big enough to cause him trouble, they were all doomed. A bunch of amateurs with guns might outlast a Grimm or two, but it would take more than that to cause problems for Adam.
He just hoped there wouldn't be any trouble.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Trouble came on the third day, but not as he'd expected. He'd been on edge from the surprising lack of Grimm, given the area was supposed to be overrun or something. When the trucks came to a sudden stop, though, he knew it wasn't Grimm they were dealing with.
Grimm didn't call out for them to halt.
"I'll go take a look," Adam said as he hopped out the back. One glance back at the truck full of armed grunts made him add, "Stay here."
Adam rounded the truck to see a half dozen men blacking the road. At the head of the group stood a graying man who didn't look thrilled to see them, especially when Adam caught up to Sienna and the two approached. He whispered something to the guy next to him, earning a soft laugh. The others tensed slightly - something both Adam and Sienna noticed but refused to react to. The last thing they needed was to start a back and forth of aggression when they were just trying to reach Shidekobushi.
"Greetings, travelers," their leader said as Adam and Sienna came closer. What brings you fine folk out our way?"
Sienna subtly waved Adam back, making it clear she would do the talking. Good. He didn't really want to deal with anyone right now. He was just there to stop the Grimm.
"We're just passing through on our way to Shidekobushi with some supplies." Sienna held a hand back toward the trucks. "Sounds like they've had a bit of a Grimm problem and need some help."
"So they called in a bunch of animals?"
Adam's arm tightened as he itched to reach for his sword and demand to know who'd said that. The man before them acted like nothing happened. "The Grimm have been a little agitated lately. Almost like someone's been stirrin' them up. You lot wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Was he accusing them of something? What kind of psychopaths would purposefully use the Grimm like that? Sienna handled it far better than Adam could've. "We only came ashore a few days ago."
"And you're just here to provide supplies. Is that right, little lady?"
Sienna bristled at the address but kept her cool. "That's right. Food and fuel, mostly. Now if you'll move aside, we'll be on our way." Unsurprisingly, not a one of them budged. "We really are in a hurry. The people of Shidekobushi need these supplies."
"Awfully dangerous out here for a bunch of foreigners. How about this?" Adam had a feeling they were about to get the worst offer ever. "We'll take the supplies for you. Me and my boys know these woods like the back of our hands. We can get there a heck of a lot faster than you lot."
"Thank you, but we'll manage."
"Then hows about we tag along," the man offered, refusing to let up. "Might be helpful to have a local militia escortin' you round these parts."
"I said we're fine." No one missed the heat in her words. "We can handle ourselves."
"I would hope so," he answered, nodding past her. "With that many men, I reckon you could do a lot more than that."
Adam's eyes snapped back to the trucks to see several faces peeking out. Chief among them was Jakob, standing in full view with his weapon and everything. Adam could've killed his friend for his stupidity
"Like I said, we'll manage."
This whole thing was going south in a hurry. "Way I see it, you've got enough men to stage an attack. More than that, you've got a wanted man at the lead." Crap! They'd recognized him. Hard not to with the scar on his face. "So here's what's gonna happen. You and your kind are gonna leave one of them trucks behind for us. Call it a generous donation, if you will." His men chuckled, though none of them holstered their weapons. "The rest of you can head on back to wherever it is your kind came from and there won't be any trouble."
"I think I'm gonna have to go with no on that one."
The man raised his revolver and pointed it at Sienna's face. "That wasn't a suggestion." A rustling in the bushes ahead had Adam gripping his sword as he called out a warning. "I see you've finally noticed your predicament. You're not the only ones with men to spare."
Several more men joined the growing blockade, though there was no telling how many more might be hiding nearby. Their blockade had turned into an ambush.
The guy had been cocky before, but with more firepower at hand, he cranked it up to eleven. "Oh, and one more thing. The criminal stays." No prizes for guessing who he meant. "There's a hefty reward for whoever brings you in. I intend to collect on that."
Sienna's hand slowly reached down for her whip. Evidently, negotiations were at an end.
Their aggressor cocked the hammer on his gun. "I won't be askin' again. Now, we'll be taking him and those supplies off your hands, or-"
It happened in a flash. So fast, the man didn't even have a chance to scream or cry out. One moment, he was pointing his revolver at Sienna's face. The next, the gun - and his hand - were on the ground. His eyes practically bulged out of his head as he stared at the bloody stump that remained, trailing up to Adam's snarling face before reality finally caught up and he shrieked in pain.
"How about we just take your hands off?" Adam quipped, though no one else seemed to laugh at his joke. Guns were leveled at him in an instant, ignoring Sienna for the much bigger threat as Adam sheathed his sword, keeping his hand on the hilt in case things got any worse. The mixture of fear and hatred across their faces didn't matter to Adam. All that mattered was getting the supplies to Shidekobushi before it was too late. "Stand down!" He ordered. None of the men listened. "We are passing through, one way or another. No one has to die today."
"You killed him!" One of them yelled. "Die, you scum!"
The moment he squeezed the trigger, Sienna lashed out with her whip, snapping his weapon out of his hands just as it fired. The single bullet struck Adam in the chest, bouncing off his aura as he refused to let them see how much the impact stung.
"He's not dead," Sienna promised, "but he does need medical attention. Like Adam said, no one needs to die here. Take your man and leave, and we'll be on our way."
"And why should we let you?"
Sienna whistled, summoning everyone from the trucks. Suddenly, the men blocking their path were outnumbered. Even so, their eyes - and their guns - mostly remained on Adam. They'd all seen him tank a shot already. A firefight with uneven numbers would be dangerous, but when one side also had aura users? The odds weren't exactly looking good.
"Like I said," Sienna gleefully boasted, "we can handle ourselves."
A tense standoff ensued, ruined somewhat by the wails of the man at Adam's feet. After what felt like far too long of a wait, one of the men finally stepped forward and called out, "Stand down!"
"Huh?" The one who'd dared to fire at Adam didn't sound thrilled with the order. "But they-"
"Stand down," their new leader repeated, holstering his own gun as he cautiously walked forward, not to confront Adam, but to help his injured man to his feet. "We can't win and they're right. We need to get the Sheriff back to the hospital." Sheriff? Heck. Adam had kind of been hoping for them to just be some bandits or a random gang of troublemakers, but he'd just picked a fight with a town's security forces. A large town, by the looks of it. "We won't forget this," he growled as he helped the whimpering mess of a Sheriff limp away.
"I would hope not," Sienna snarked back. She waited until the men were in full retreat before letting her guard down even slightly, just in case they tried anything foolish. "Alright, everyone back in the trucks! We need to get moving if we want to reach Shidekobushi before nightfall." The White Fang hurried to follow her orders, some of them laughing at their easy victory as Sienna turned to Adam. "Good work, Adam."
"B-but…"
"Something on your mind?"
"I'm sorry," Adam blurted out, much to Sienna's confusion. "I should've let you handle things. It's just, when he pointed his gun at you, I thought…well, I didn't want anyone-"
Sienna gripped his shoulder, giving him an encouraging jostle. "You did good, Adam. There's nothing to apologize for."
"I chopped that man's arm off."
"And in doing so prevented a bloody battle that would've seen losses on both sides," Sienna said, nodding to the bloody spot on the ground. The men had reclaimed both the severed hand and the revolver still gripped in it, but Adam could still imagine the scene easily enough. "Controlled aggression. That's what I believe in. What I've always believed in. Sometimes, a little violence is necessary."
Was it? "Ghira wouldn't agree."
"Then Ghira would be wrong," Sienna scoffed. ""It's easy to criticize hidden back on Menagerie where the only enemy you face is paperwork and reporters. But out here, in the real world, things aren't always so clean. If we want to change the world, then we have to get our hands dirty from time to time. Now let's get going." Sienna's smile quirked with an amused edge. "Your fan club is waiting."
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Fan club was certainly underselling it. More like worshippers. Some weird cult that saw him as a demigod or something, forming some weird church of Adam as they fought to be closer to their chosen deity.
Adam wished he'd kept his aura down and let the shot hit him. He'd rather be injured than endure this.
The journey to Shidekobushi couldn't have ended soon enough. Adam endured their barrage of questions and praise as best he could, but the moment the truck slowed, he jumped out, not even waiting for it to stop before hurrying to join Sienna up front. His men could secure the rear without him.
They'd parked just outside of the open gates of Shidekobushi. Sienna issued a few orders, then motioned for Adam to follow her closer to the entrance where a trio of faunus waited for them. Their leader, a tall, wiry middle-aged man with a series of strange spikes from wrist to elbow, raised his hand in greeting.
"Welcome to Shidekobushi," he said, looking the two of them over. He seemed more interested in their faunus traits than the weapons they displayed. "I take it you're the ones they sent for our distress call?"
Sienna stepped forward, once again taking the lead. Adam just hoped he wouldn't have to chop off any limbs this time. "I am Sienna Khan, and this is Adam Taurus." Just as he'd feared, the two other faunus perked up at his name, though their leader kept a neutral face. "The White Fang has received your call and is here to help."
Taking her lead, the man introduced them as well. "I'm Manti, and the two behind me are Yuma and Trifa." Adam took a moment to look the pair over, but for once it was his turn to stare.
Trifa, or at least the one he assumed was Trifa, was a pale girl whose blue-gray eyes matched her hair almost perfectly. Her slight smile did little to distract from the dark lines visible across her arms and chest. Adam had heard of varicose veins before, but he'd never seen it like that before. It looked kind of creepy, honestly.
But Adam barely even looked at her. All of his attention was on Yuma. He stood almost as tall as Manti, towering over the much shorter Trifa beside him as he crossed his arms and smiled cockily at the new arrivals, running a hand through his messy, brown hair. Adam could see the faintest traces of a beard forming, but it was little more than stubble so far. None of that captured his attention, though. Instead, Adam couldn't help but stare over the man's shoulders.
Wings! Honest to goodness wings! They weren't the giant, feathered things he'd always imagined, but the pair of dark bat wings sprouting from the man's back were still captivating. Did that mean he could fly? How cool was that?! Adam's dumbfounded admiration only seemed to feed the guy's ego. Adam would have to corner him later. He had so many questions.
"You here to help with the Grimm?" Manti asked, focusing attention back on himself.
"And to resupply you," Sienna answered, just as two uniformed faunus came forward with crates. Manti nodded for Yuma and Trifa to open them, revealing bags of food in one and vials of dust in the other.
"Thank you." Manti did his best to hide his desperation, but Adam didn't miss the slight twinge in his voice. "We weren't sure how much longer we could hold out."
"Why didn't the other settlements help?" Adam asked. If Shizukana had ever been in trouble like this, like it had with the Alpha, they would've called for support from Katai.
Yuma spoke up when Manti hesitated. "We're not exactly on the best terms with them."
"Ah." Adam should've known, given the less than warm reception they'd had only a few hours ago. "They didn't seem fond of us either."
"Trouble?" Manti guessed.
"We'll fill you in later," Sienna promised. "First, I'd like to get our trucks offloaded and get the lay of the land. Shall we?"
"Oh…of course. Yuma? Trifa?" The two stepped forward, waiting for their orders. "Take them to the storehouses and help them get the supplies secured. Sienna and I have much to discuss."
"Go with them, Adam," Sienna echoed. Apparently, the meeting would be a one on one, though Adam trusted she'd relay anything important afterwards.
That was fine with Adam. He'd rather hang out with the bat faunus than sit through some boring meeting. Manti and Sienna headed inside, leaving Adam to run everything. Not that he needed to do much. Yuma and Trifa had them drive to the center of the settlement, not that it took very long. Even Shizukana was bigger. A few faunus waited for them and helped with the unloading, leaving Adam with their two hosts and nothing to do.
"So…" Adam trailed off, wondering how to ask his burning question without fangirling too much.
Yuma saves him the effort. "Yes, I can fly."
Adam probably should've felt embarrassed at being so predictable, but he couldn't help himself. A flying faunus! He couldn't believe it! "May I?" Yuma chuckled as he extended a wing and nodded. Adam poked the thin expanse, marveling at how soft and rubbery it felt. He didn't press too hard, obviously, but the skin stretched easily, snapping back into place in an instant.
"Yeah, they're pretty cool," Yuma bragged, flapping them once as Adam stepped back.
"And you can actually fly?"
"Sure can." A few strong pumps lifted him off the ground, but he dropped back down almost immediately. "You think that's cool? Wait until you see what Trifa can do."
"Yuma," Trifa warned, less eager to show off. "So you're the guy they've been talking about on the radio. Gotta say, you're not what I expected."
"What did you expect?"
"Something more like him," Trifa said, glancing over to where Bane was carrying two crates without so much as breaking a sweat. "You look…kinda normal. You really do all that stuff they're saying you did?"
"They exaggerate a bit," Adam assured her. The last thing he needed was two more fans.
"We heard your broadcast the other day." The press conference. So it had gotten out, then. "Did the SDC really do all that crap to you?"
"You tell me," Adam answered, pointing to the condemning letters on his face. He felt Yuma could be forgiven the curse that slipped out. "It's…not really something I like to talk about."
"So after all that, you joined the White Fang to get back at them. Can't say I blame you."
"No, I…" Adam shook his head. He wasn't bent on some personal crusade of vengeance. He'd been roped into helping settle the power struggle within the White Fang leadership, but he couldn't really tell them that. He needed a better excuse. Their relief missi0on provided an easy answer. "I wanted to help people. People like me." Faunus. "No one else should have to go through what they did to me."
So much for not adding them to the ranks of worshippers. "Dang, man. That's pretty noble of you."
"What he means to say is thank you," Trifa cut in. "We weren't sure which would kill us first - the Grimm or starvation."
Typically, both would, though the Grimm usually struck the final blow. Adam hated to imagine the situation. Surviving a Grimm attack didn't always end well. The initial attack would draw more Grimm to the negativity, starting a terrible cycle where each fresh wave would summon more and more. With each successful defense, there would still be losses. Injuries. Deaths. The defenders would get weaker and weaker against a seemingly unending siege, all while cut off from the rest of the world. Food and medical supplies would dwindle. Those still alive would start to falter. Eventually, there'd be one attack too many.
Unless help arrived, of course. Fresh supplies and reinforcements were the only real hope against a Grimm incursion. Not only could they help outlast the onslaught, but their very presence could help break the spiral of negativity with a quick morale boost. If not, then they might just outlast the Grimm in time. The hordes weren't truly endless. Eventually there wouldn't be any Grimm close enough to summon and the siege would break. Of course, that relied on the defenders holding out and help arriving.
More often, the reinforcements arrived in time to find an overrun battlefield.
Shidekobushi wouldn't share that fate. Not if Adam had anything to say about it. Still, one thing had bothered him on the way here. "We didn't really see any Grimm on the road. I thought you said the place was overrun."
"Not to the southwest," Trifa clarified. "That's why the gates are open. Haven't had any attacks from that direction and we kept hoping someone would show up to help." Which they had. A shame they had to come all the way from Menagerie instead of their neighbors.
"Humans made sure to clear up their side," Yuma added with a bit of spite. "Didn't bother pushing further, though. Not when they could use us as a meat shield."
"That's terrible!"
"That's life." It pained Adam that he couldn't argue with Yuma's assessment. 'Trust me, the Grimm on the other side are still plenty active. A few actually got inside the walls last time."
"They made it in?" That was a death sentence for most places. "How did you survive?"
"Some of us didn't."
Oh.
"We brought them down, but fighting on two sides isn't ideal," Trifa continued. "Lost a few good men, including our captain."
"I thought Manti was in charge."
"He is now." Adam really needed to stop asking questions he didn't want the answer to. Manti had only gotten the job because the last guy died in an attack. His predecessor might not have even been the original captain. Given the trust Manti had in them, one of the faunus before him might very well be next in line if Manti died.
Adam swore he wouldn't let that happen.
"We'll be sticking around a few days to help," Adam promised. The relief on the pair's faces was obvious.
"Thank goodness." Yuma looked down to his side. "Sword, eh? You a Huntsman or something?"
"Something like that."
"Any good?"
Before Adam could answer, a yell rang out from the wall. The voice was filled with terror as it shouted a single word over and over.
"Guess we're about to find out."
More familiar faces! Realized I hadn't really planned anything for Yuma and Trifa but figured this was as good a place as any. Honestly, a lot of this story is sort of just wingin' it like that. Gives me a lot of flexibility, but I do miss going into a chapter and actually knowing what will happen by the end.
Also, we see the start of the Church of Adam! That's not going to be an actual thing, just to be clear, thought the Albain Brothers would make good priests. Couldn't resist the reference though, as I'm currently rereading White Sheep right now for a bit of levity. Won't spoil everything, but a minor plot point halfway through is that a splinter group of the White Fang begins worshipping Adam after his death and become sort of religious zealots. Of course,it's in a crack fic, so you can imagine the ridiculousness that ensues, especially when Blake has to infiltrate them and is surrounded by people proclaiming their love and devotion to the spirit of Adam Taurus, blessed be he.
Forgot to mention last week that Shidekobushi is the Japanese name for the star magnolia. Had a whole backstory drawn up for the reasoning and everything, but it's not really relevant here. Short version is that it was founded by four faunus families driven from the human settlements with help from the White Fang, since Shidekobushi also translates to "four fisted hands." Sort of a rebellion against their ill treatment. Anyways, wasn't really a chance to do a history lesson for the village, but that's what Author Notes are for!
Next chapter: The Grimm attack Shidekobushi.