Big Issues
AN: Welcome back to Big Issues everyone! The break from this series was kinda needed as I moved to a new house, though the big thing was adding more chapters to the prequel series, Small Issues. I don't know how many of you have checked it out yet, but I hope you do. The tweaks I've been making to events there should improve them from their base counterparts... I think, but nothing too big has been changed, just making them lore accurate and fleshing things out.
Anyways, I had tried to have this ready earlier but it's a bit hard to write while carrying boxes and furniture all day. Enough raambling, enjoy!
Found
Farkas found the last known location of Weiss' Manta airship easily enough. It may have taken a few days of searching thanks to how far off the planned route the ship had gone and a few battles with Grimm, but he had found the path of the crashed ship.
The ship itself was in bad condition, his team could see the damage that brought it down compared to the marks left by the crash through the trees and soil. Finding the rotting body of the pilot was bad enough, but they bagged him for a proper burial in Atlas.
As for Weiss, there was no sign of her. Given that the emergency supplies were missing, it raised the teams hopes of finding her.
But Farkas is a master tracker and noticed the signs of others at the site. Three people, two of average size and one of much larger stature. The scuffing inside the craft and the soil beneath and around strongly suggested that they had come to the crash, quite possibly before the engines even cooled, and looted what they could carry. And given that Weiss has a substantial price on her head, Farkas really hoped that these people were simply kind souls who were helping those in need.
"Manta Three, stay where you are but keep us in communication range. Move our way as needed as we follow the trail."
"Yes sir!"
"The rest of you, with me!" With that order, the two other soldiers followed the Faunus into the forest as he did his best to follow the tracks.
The next day they came to a hilltop where they could see the wooden wall that was erected.
"Damn, it looks like we found a bandit encampment." One of the soldiers comments.
"Correction, WAS a bandit encampment." The other says as she looks through her binoculars and finds little but rutts where structures and people had been for at least several weeks before moving.
"Let's get down there and see if we can find anything worthwhile reporting or indicate where they went." Farkas leads the way quickly but cautiously.
The inside of the gates didn't do too much to raise their hopes. At best, it meant that Grimm only had one way to attack them aside from those that can fly.
But searching around, they found some scraps and trash, ashes in fire pits, holes where stakes and posts had been driven into the ground, the latrine by the wall, and the common paths the people used.
"Find anything?" Farkas asks the woman as she walks up to him as he knelt on the ground.
"A few bits of cut leather and rope, a pig bone, and a wrapper from one of the emergency rations from the Manta."
"Not much here either, they are pretty thorough at cleaning up after themselves. But there is this, looks like hair." The other man offers his hand with a long strand of something long, thin, and silvery.
Farkas takes the hair and examines it himself, eventually taking a deep sniff of its scent. "Yeah, that's Weiss alright. Hard to forget that blueberry-wildflower shampoo she uses."
"So… um, did you find anything?"
"Yeah. It looks like two vehicles pulled up to here and backed out later… probably a jeep and motorcycle. The wagon wheels make it a bit hard to tell much but they are distinctive." Farkas explains as he stands up and looks around, noting it was getting dark. "Manta Three, come to our position and land. We're spending the night here and moving out in the morning."
"Got a lock on your signals. Be there in ten minutes."
The next day, the team was following the tracks. Specifically, Farkas was following the tires and the pair of soldiers had the wagons since the latter were much easier to do. Unfortunately, it didn't take long to notice that the tracks were going into very different directions.
"What do we do?"
"I can smell rain in the wind from the east. The tracks were probably washed away by now. If we're lucky, we can find the other group going south and learn where the other was going."
Two more days and they finally found a large camp.
"That's more than we can take on."
"Get a grip, numbers aren't everything." The female soldier hisses, giving her partner a jab to the shoulder.
"Two airships and roughly a hundred bandits with a variety of weapons. It's going to be tough but if we catch them by surprise…" Farkas voices his thoughts.
"Huh? What the heeeeeeelllllll!" The male soldier was suddenly dragged away into the bushes.
"Grassly!" Was all they could yell before his screams went silent.
Farkas deployed his claws and stood ready, his ears swiveling to catch any sounds of their attacker. "So much for surprise." He mutters.
"Grassly?" She kept her rifle raised and had both pistol and blade ready for use at her waist.
"Ahahahaha!" A voice laughs in the darkness of the forest. "Two little piggies with the big bad wolf?" They cackled.
"Show yourself!" Farkas yells out.
"One little piggy gone and he fell like straw! Hahahaha!" The voice seemed to come from multiple angles.
"No!" His last soldier shouts as she shoots at an unseen assailant before she was lost in the bushes. A few more gunshots and a few slashes could be heard before everything went deathly silent.
"Just one more little piggy to go! This last one was much stronger… had more fight in her. But even a stick breaks if they bend too far."
"Come out you coward!"
"Oh, where would the fun in that be? Don't you know the greatest reveal is when the suspense has been built up until the audience can't take it anymore?" Still the voice seemed to move every few words but there seemed to be no pattern to it,
"You sound like a bard's college dropout."
"Well I say!" The voice sounded insulted. "Hmph! I guess the last little piggy will be dropping like a brick soon!"
"Rubble! Get out of there now! Report straight to base!" Farkas yells into his comms and could immediately hear the thrusters firing up through the forest. Moments later, he saw the Manta taking off over the trees and let a satisfied grin creep across his face.
A grin that was immediately removed as a rocket raced overhead towards the larger craft.
"Oh goody! We get fireworks tonight!" The voice practically squealed like a child, complete with clapping hands.
The pilot banked and rolled while shooting off flares which threw off the targeting of the rocket and allowed the ship to escape unharmed.
"No! No no no no! That's not how it's supposed to go!" The voice cries in the dark, though it seems to have settled into one place. "What happened to the dramatic flare?! The despair of the 'would be hero'?"
The more the man talked, the easier it was for Farkas' ears to focus on the source. Then he struck.
Razor sharp claws cut through the air at the wide and surprised yellow beady eyes of the man who had been taunting him and killing his team.
Sparks flew as metal clashed against metal and the man's surprise turned to a feral grin.
"How about we skip right to the part where we drop the curtain and fade to black?"
Before Farkas could process what the man had said, he heard the sound of whirring gyros before something incredibly hard and heavy rammed into his head.
—-
The next morning was interesting for the increasingly crowded house in Mistral. Tai shared the room with Qrow after calling the Headmaster of Signal to let them know that he wouldn't be in to work for a bit due to family. Key details were left out, of course, but the Headmaster was understanding and was willing to give him the time he needed. Given that global communication was back, a lot of families and friends were catching up and dealing with affairs.
Zwei spent the night with Ruby and Weiss, both girls overjoyed to have the pup.
Raven used the couch again, split between relief of telling her family about what she had done over the years away and the nervousness that it was all too much at once. It didn't help that Ruby was practically a clone of Summer and she felt something that made her want to help the girl, quite possibly the instincts that she had tried to squash when she left Yang behind as an infant.
The rest of the occupants were more relaxed though there was some tension as Pyrrha and Jaune called their homes to let them know how they were doing… and inform them that they were now dating.
Put mildly, one didn't need enhanced hearing to pick up on the excitement of two mothers and six sisters on the other end of the calls, though Jaune would have to go get his speaker replaced. And both of the young couple needed some quiet time to let their auras repair their eardrums.
Ren and the Eaglewing sisters went straight to the kitchen to make breakfast while everyone else gathered around the table and on the seats. Granted, there was a bit of an awkward moment when Ruby saw Yang and Denko coming out of their room together but the siblings went into a corner for a hushed conversation that ended with a hug.
"What are we going to do today? Please tell me we're not just going to sit around and talk." Weiss asks as she pets Zwei laying across her lap.
"I'll be going out to look for the friends I wanted to get ahold of before, see if I can get their backing to push Leo a bit." Qrow states as he leans against a wall.
"And it would probably be best that only the ones the Leo saw be seen outside of the house." Denko adds.
"What? Why?" Weiss asks with a whine.
"Because things aren't adding up with him. That's why." Qrow gives the younger folk a small glare that puts down any objections.
"But he's the Headmaster of Haven! Shouldn't he be on our side?" Ruby rises to her knees at the table.
"'Should be' are the key words." Anya points out since she was listening in.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nora looks around at the others.
"What it means is that Lionheart shouldn't be trusted." Raven chimes in as she leans against the glass wall with her arms crossed. "There have been too many inconsistencies in what he's been doing and many of them are far from what he should do."
"Like Haven being practically abandoned." Talon tosses in the example.
"Exactly." Qrow agrees.
"How bad is that? Really?" Ren had to ask.
Tai began pacing in the room to help alleviate his own tension. "It's pretty bad. I may have been out of the game for a while thanks to some kids…" He couldn't help but to give a mock exasperated sigh as he glances at two blondes and a red cloak, making them grin back cheekily. "But it's hard to forget the stuff we learned doing the big secret work for Ozpin.
And one of the big things we learned is that the layout of where the vaults and Academies are is no coincidence. Each vault requires the power of a specific Maiden to open, otherwise they are fancy walls in a big room. But that's only one defense for the Relics.
The Maidens are the keys to opening the vaults but who the Maiden is has generally been kept secret as best as possible and they would usually perform Huntress work to keep them moving, to keep them harder to track down. And even then you'd have to deal with the Maiden herself who is usually trained as a Huntress and has a good grasp of her powers.
But to get to the vaults themselves, there's the Kingdom as the first layer of defense. Then the Academy that is full of professional Huntsmen as teachers and a lot of students who had already proven themselves to be very capable on their own.
If someone can get past all of that, the entrance just to get to the vault is hidden and needs a special key just to get down to the vault, typically held by the Headmaster and what very select few staff they trust to assist in their duties to keep the vault, the Maiden's, and the Relics secret from the world.
So it's not as though anyone could just walk in but after what happened at Beacon… nothing is off the table." Tai finally finished.
"Hmph, you really are good at being a teacher." Raven gives the man a soft smile that was as honest as it was teasing.
"But what can we do?" Jaune asks, in awe of how well defended the Relics are.
"At the moment, only Qrow, Ruby, and Team JNPR are known to be here by Lionheart and the rest of us… will have to stay here." Denko tells him and trails off as he'd be one of those trapped.
"You mean you want us to sit around all day?" Weiss wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had ever gone back to Atlas with her father if he'd confine her to the Schnee mansion or even her room within.
"There is a training room downstairs." Ruby shrugs from next to the heiress.
"Ugh!" The girl drops her face into her hands. "We'll be going crazy from cabin fever within the week."
"I mean… there are other things we could do to pass the time." Yang suggests.
"You're keeping your door open!" Tai butts in.
"Really Dad?!"
"Tai, I doubt that they'd have the solitude needed with this many people in the house."
"Thanks Mom."
"Though I remember that night our daughter began to exist…"
"Raven!/Mom!" Taiyang, Qrow, and Yang all yelled at once as Ruby remained silent but immediately covered her head with her hood and buried her face in Weiss' shoulder.
"That's it, I'm going for my part. I'll be back late." Qrow made himself scarce and left the house muttering about siblings.
"Umm… I need to make some parts for Crescent Rose! I'll be at the academy forge!" Ruby vanished in a burst of rose petals and was out the door before it closed.
"I guess we'll find something else to do." Jaune and Pyrrha were quick to go to the basement training by room, followed by Denko, Yang, Ren and Nora.
—-
"Blake."
"Yeah Mom?"
"You need to relax."
"No, I need to get some work done."
Kali sighed as her daughter worked herself towards exhaustion. It was only two days after Ghira woke up and they made the announcement to the world about the White Fang's disbandment and what Adam was leading his radicals into doing. In that time, the younger woman had been alternating between feeling guilty about not stopping Adam sooner and beating herself up for that or she's been running around town trying to find any way she could help repair things.
With nearly everyone kindly shooing her away to handle the damages themselves, Blake had eventually retreated to her fathers study to try to plan where Adam was going.
There was already a mark where the training camp had been and several paths to Mistral from there. Extensive notes had been written up on the weapons they were using when they attacked. Basically a gun that activates a pellet of mixed Dust and fires the combined effects in a single burst. That burst of elements rapidly destabilizes whatever it hits thanks to the varied effects and the target essentially explodes.
On buildings and harder objects like trees and stone, large chunks the size of a man's hand could be removed from a single shot. On softer targets like a person… it was far from clean and there was no way to heal from the wound without amputation of the limb. Getting hit in the torso was almost certain death.
"You've been going almost nonstop."
"So? The others are working too."
That was true. Sun was actually helping Ghira who was still in the hospital but refused to stop doing his daily tasks as Chieftain of Menagerie. The blonde was essentially playing secretary and left hand as needed, though it was interesting to see that Ghira was explaining some of the intricacies of the job and the young man was picking up on it rather well.
At the same time, Itazura and Ilia were coordinating the interrogations and reports from them. It wasn't an enviable task but they were making progress. Sienna was the one to carry out trials and punishments. While most had some form of guilt for what they did, there was a worrying number who had no remorse, even a few of those who had tried to attack Sienna in the courtroom, the Guards escorting them, or both.
The more forgone ones would be sent through psychiatric treatment and it was decided that if there was no progress on them by the end of the year to have them express genuine regret for the attacks… much harsher punishment would be dealt to them. Part of that was to set an example, part to enforce the laws, and partly to reduce the prison population.
Hard labor was the standard punishment thus far, with a strong proposition to build a fortification of sorts out in the desert that may be used as Menagerie's first real push into that territory. Given the weather and conditions they were likely to face, not including the Grimm, very few prisoners looked eager to engage in the project.
And that had left Kali to open her home up to those who lost their homes and doing her best to care for them. Most of those who had to move in were expected to be out by the end of the year as their homes were rebuilt. But it did add some life to the large house.
"And we'll all burn out if we don't take the time to relax. Our people understand that." Kali set a hand on her daughter's shoulder and made her pause. "That's part of the reason so many of them turned down your help. They know how hard you've been working and that you were one of those fighting back directly."
"It's out of pity?"
"I'm sure there is a bit of that given how Ghira is right now but they are trying to give you time to be with him." Kali slowly turned Blake and wrapped her in a hug.
"But who's going to stop Adam?" The younger cat persists.
"Hmph, from what I heard, you and Sun did a number on him, especially with that stab to the leg slowing him down." Kali couldn't help but smirk. "He likes being at the lead of things and you made sure that he's been delayed. Think of that as an opportunity to relax for a short time, I doubt he's going anywhere quickly."
"You really want me to drop this, don't you?"
"I'm making sure that the closets have locks on them." The grin on her face reached ear to ear and threatened to grow wider as Blake blushed fiercely and buried her face in her hands.
—-
A sudden sneeze went through Sun, though thankfully nothing sprayed on Ghira or the paperwork all over the room.
"You know, some say you sneeze when people are talking behind your back." Ghira jokes as he reviews a page.
"Maybe, but were they saying something good or bad?" The blonde rubs his nose.
"Hmmm… that's always up for debate. But I know if my wife was saying something about you, it would be good but phrased to be embarrassing."
"Oh jeez."
"Though I do wonder why she said she was getting some locks for the house. All of the doors do lock except for the closets but there's no reason to lock them in the first place." Ghira scratches his beard in confusion, missing how the younger man went stiff and red.
—-
Qrow wandered the streets of Mistral looking for familiar faces. Given his time as a Huntsman and how much he traveled around, he got to know many people from all walks of life. And since he had a knack for gathering intelligence, he remembered plenty of things that he'd seen over those years including those he worked with, categorizing them into enemies, people he'd work with again, and those he'd prefer to not work with again.
But he saw that few if any of the establishments that had 'No Faunus' signs removed them since the last time he was here. In fact, he was almost sure that he saw more than he remembered.
Mistral was never the best when it came to Human/Faunus relations, part of the reason that Ozpin had helped Leonardo become Headmaster of Haven. They wanted to show that the Faunus could be trusted in such high and important positions of power and to the rest of the world it worked. But for the average civilian in Mistral… ingrained hatred and practices were hard to move in a short time.
'What would Oz think right now if was here? It's bad enough that I don't think I can trust Leo with what he's been doing and saying.'
He stops at a bar that he knew one man frequented, noting the anti-Faunus sign next to the door and scoffed at the stupidity of driving away customers over blind, senseless bigotry before entering the place.
Inside the bartender was cleaning a glass mug with a rag that had seen better days. The simple bar, stools, tables, and chairs are all wood and were much like the rag, well used but not so bad to require replacement… somehow. The place didn't have any patrons and there was no music from the radio and the old television projector wasn't in use.
"Excuse me, do you know this man?" Qrow asks as he shows the bartender a picture on his scroll.
The man pauses his 'work' and takes a few seconds to recognize the man. "Yeah, I know him." He grunts out.
"Ah, do you know where I can find him then?" Qrow asks with a smile, hoping that would help defuse any tension.
"If I knew where to find him, I'd have been there to make him pay his tab!" In a matter of seconds, the man went from mildly grumpy to furious, even grabbing a large knife from the counter in front of him.
"Woah, woah! I don't mean any trouble." Qrow raises his hands up in surrender as he backs away.
"I don't care! If you ever see Tony again, tell him to pay up the next time around or he's never coming through that door again!"
Seeing the man climbing up onto the bar itself with the knife raised, Qrow was quick to get out and close the door behind him. Just as he was sighing in relief at getting away before things got too nasty, the blade of the knife slammed into the wood with enough force to have a few inches poking out the other side… right by Qrow's head.
"This can't get any worse… can it?" He grumbles as he shoves his hands in his pockets and slouches off.
—-
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Weiss suddenly screams, making everyone snap their heads her way.
"Weiss! What's wrong?!" Yang instantly went into protective big sister mode as she rushed over to the porch.
Jaune and Denko paused their spar, which the younger blonde was losing badly, and waited to see what the problem was. The other three stopped their push-ups in case they needed to act.
"S-sorry, it was just a spider crawling up my leg." The heiress blushed in embarrassment as her friends seemed to deflate.
"Really? Are you scared of spiders?" Yang couldn't help but to tease and poke the wide hipped girl in the shoulder.
"Shut up! I-I just wasn't expecting it, that's all!"
"Alright Jaune, back to it." Denko orders as he holds Sprite in hand. To all but Yang and Weiss, it was a surprise to see the short sword drawn from Raijin as they never even knew he had anything more than a guandao.
The spar between blondes was with their swords, Raijin and the sheath of Crocea Mors sittin off to the side in the racks. But once they began the difference in skill became apparent.
Denko flowed between Jaune's slashes and thrusts, moving just enough to cleanly let the blade pass. When he attacked and countered, Sprite moved as if it was liquid to redirect the larger blade or to smack the younger man with the flat or spine.
"Gah!" Jaune flinched as he took a blow to the top of his head, this time being hit with the hilt.
"You're really gonna need to improve if you're gonna make it as a Huntsman." Denko didn't hold back on his assessment.
"I'm doing what I can, okay! It's only been about two years." Jaune fires back, though most of the frustration was directed at himself. "Pyrrha and I used to train on the roof at Beacon almost every night. And that was on top of team training, hitting the gym, classes, and everything else that happened there. Then the attack at the Tournament… and just trying to get here… it's been really tough."
Everyone watched as the young man vented. But while the others stood back to see how it would play out, Pyrrha stepped up to stand by him.
"You're not being very nice." She warns with narrow eyes.
"Actually I am. But if you've been training him, why have you only taught the basics of swordplay?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Your training methods for Jaune. All of those months and you haven't moved on from the basics." Denko states with his arms crossed.
"He needed a solid foundation to build from."
"He's got the foundation down pretty good but he leaves himself either open to counters or doesn't follow through because he's too set on the basics." Denko matched the taller girl's glare with an unwavering stare of his own. He didn't miss how her fists were clenched or Jaune looking between the two of them.
Pyrrha remained silent as she tried to come up with a reason that seemed good yet kept her glare.
Then Denko let out a heavy sigh and relaxed. "Look, I get it that he's your boyfriend now and you want him to be safe." The couple blushed fiercely. "But it's best for you and the rest of us if you stop holding back."
"Like you held back when getting me back into shape?" Yang walks over and gives him a jab to the shoulder hard enough to make him flinch.
"Only to the point to keep you working hard for any wins as you grew stronger." He counters the next jab by grabbing her wrist and pulling her into a hip throw that sent her to the floor with a thud. Yet Yang had grabbed him during that and pulled him down with her and soon they were rolling across the tatami mats trying to one up the other but neither serious about the fight.
"So… are they fighting or is that foreplay?" Nora had to ask as she watched the pair tumble by.
"I think for them it's one in the same." Weiss responds with a slight shake of her head.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha was deep in thought about what was just said to her about her training methods. Of course she didn't want to hurt Jaune, his confidence had been low about his combat and academic abilities and she did everything she could to stay positive and communicate that to him.
But maybe she had been treating him with kid gloves too much?
Her own trainers had done little but heap praises on her, though she had forgotten about how much those praises felt empty and she had gotten tired of the adoration from everyone around her. Maybe she had been making that same mistake unintentionally because that was all she had really ever known?
"Hey Pyrrha? Let's go outside." Jaune suggests as he sidesteps the rolling blondes who he was sure had snuck in a few kisses as they fought. There, they began train again with clashing blades and Jaune noticed how different his style was from Pyrrha's and hers from Denko's. And no doubt that getting Weiss in for a few minutes would have a very drastic difference as well.
—-
Qrow was having even less luck than he expected. He had a list of fifty or so names and spent all day tracking down their homes and trying to find them. Then it started raining as he approached a home that had seen better days.
The door opened shortly after he knocked and a man stood on the other side who briefly looked expectant before that turned to disappointment which he quickly tried to hide. "Can I help you?"
"Umm…hi. Is April here? I'd like to offer a mission."
Immediately, the man's face fell and Qrow felt like he had delivered bad news.
"Daddy?" A small voice came from waist high on the men to find a young girl in loose, drab, yet comfortable clothes standing by the man's leg. "Does he know where Mommy is?"
Qrow's eyes went wide at that, the clear memories of two other little girls asking that same question on Patch and the many tears that followed.
"I-I'm sorry." The Huntsman quickly but sincerely apologizes before grabbing a few lien cards from his pocket and gives them to the father, not bothering to check the amount. "Take this for your time, it'll at least help."
The man didn't say anything but nodded in thanks as he took the money and closed the door. Through the barrier, Qrow heard the pair beginning to sob as he walked away.
It was the hardest part of being a Huntsman and Huntress, knowing that any mission could be your last and even if your family knew the risks, it didn't make it easier when they died.
Qrow had no problem shedding a few tears for a fallen friend as the rain washed them away as fast as they came.
—-
Talon and Anya had gone upstairs to take care of a few things, leaving Tai and Raven alone together. To be quite honest, the tension was thick as it had been closer to twenty years ago since they shared this level of privacy. Several minutes passed in awkward silence.
"So… I see that you've raised the girls well." Raven starts a conversation.
Tai didn't expect her to start with something like that and jumped a little. "It… it wasn't easy." He admits.
"You had Summer to help… with everything." There was more than a touch of regret in her tone mixed with understanding.
"Yeah… she was great with Yang."
"And then you two…"
"Got together? Is it that hard to tell?"
"Considering that Ruby doesn't look anything like you." Raven teased with a small smile.
"And Yang looks just like you did at her age, just with my hair color."
"And our eyes mixed." That line drew them both back to seeing their daughter for the first time and what they had said.
"Raven, I need to know." Tai grew serious.
"Know what?"
"How committed you are to staying this time." That certainly got her attention. "Back then, when Ozpin first brought us in on things, you were always the one who stood by the door, in a sense. Summer and Qrow, they were all in to do what they could to help and I stood by their sides for it.
I may have been out of that war to raise my girls but I know Summer and Qrow maintained their commitment. But what I want to know is if we can count on you now."
Raven sat silently for a few moments before taking a deep breath and locking her eyes on his. "Just one thing first."
"What's that?"
"When you were with Summer for those years, was she happy?"
His eyes went wide at that, not expecting that shift. "I-I'd like to think so. We had our little disagreements but I did my best to help her and our girls always brought us smiles."
Raven closed her eyes and nods. "That's what I was hoping to hear. It matches up with the times I'd stop by and visit." Her red eyes opened again. "But I've made a vow to my daughters that I'd stand by my family and try to make up for what I've done to you. It's one that I intend to follow through to the end."
"Good, I'll hold you to that. It'll be a while before I think I can trust you like I used to but if you stay and help… you'll earn it back again."
"I'll do my best." Raven gives the man a warm smile, one that had been part of the reason they had gotten together in the first place. It was rare that she ever smiled like that but when she did, the moment was always a special occasion.
—-
"We really needed this break." Sun comments as he carried a large basket up the mountain towards Sirius.
Blake was next to him as they hiked, though she had a bag full of drinks. "You really think so?"
"Hey, I needed to get away from the political stuff I've been helping Ghira with and you're already starting to get bags under your eyes from staying up so long worrying about Adam." Sun pointed out, deftly making the turn off the road and into the forest with Blake close behind.
"I do not have bags under my eyes!"
"Really? Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Sun spun around and walked backwards as he grinned to let his girlfriend know he was teasing… mostly.
Blake gave him a soft glare, which only seemed to emphasize the tiredness in her eyes. She could only maintain that glare for so long as a wave of sleepiness passed through her and he grinned wider at his point being proven.
It didn't take them long to reach their secret spot and spread out the blanket. From where they sat overlooking Kuo Kuana, they could see how busy everything was and the damages that had been inflicted. But the town was quickly healing and the damages repaired, even the Guard barracks having been expanded to house so many prisoners.
"Mom said the house is going to be quiet today."
"Oh?"
"We're out, Mom said she's taking Dad out for some fresh air, Sienna is busy with trials, and Itazura says that her and Ilia will be out late and want to try the noodle place that just reopened."
"And everyone else staying there are keeping themselves busy." Sun states as he splits his attention between Blake and the town.
"Yeah."
"At least we have plenty of food to last us all day!" Sun redirected the conversation as he wraps an arm around Blake's waist and gives her a squeeze, making sure to give her belly a good shake that he knew would get her giggling.
The cat certainly didn't disappoint on that end but soon was laughing as his tail slid along her other side to rub her belly. Soon after that, a tickle fight broke out between them that lasted for several minutes before they came to a stop with Blake laying across Sun's legs on her belly.
"Do you feel like getting up?" The blonde asks as he gives her hip a poke.
"Nah, I'm comfy here." Not only was she quite comfortable where she lay but the sun was casting a beam down on her that she simply found relaxing.
Then a pear rolled in front of her, making her twist an ear towards him. "Hungry?"
"What about the fish?" She asks as she takes a bite.
"Maybe once you finish with that." Sun teases, though he was helping himself to some of the grilled fish already. He caught the cat glaring at him from the corner of her eye. "What? I'm just making sure I get some before you eat it all."
Blake scarfed down the rest of her fruit and tossed the core off the cliff, though Sun was waiting for that and set the plastic box in front of her and watched as she tore into that. Absently, he began to drum his fingers… on her rear.
Given that she had no negative reaction to him doing that, he picked up the pace and began tapping out a tune he heard recently and enjoyed.
"What are you doing?" Blake paused long enough to ask.
"Guess the song."
The cat settles down as she slows her consumption of the fish to what is a normal pace for most as she focuses on the drumming. Sun had moved from simply tapping with his fingers to using her full bottom like bongos yet was keeping the hits light. Didn't stop her booty from rippling and jiggling with every tap but it did feel good, like a vibrating massage machine set to a song.
"Hmm… I don't know."
"Really? Not gonna try?" She didn't need to see him to hear the grin, he was enjoying this as much as she was and he kept the song going.
"How about you sing along, maybe I'll know then."
Sun quirked an eyebrow but shrugs at the suggestion, noting that her ears had twisted his way as far as they could.
"Ooh I need your love babe,
Guess you know it's true.
Hope you need my love babe,
Just like I need you.
Hold me, love me, hold me, love me.
Ain't got nothin' but love babe,
Eight days a week."
"I should have known!" Blake giggles at missing the song, though some of the ripples tickled in the right places.
"Wanna try another?"
"Go ahead."
The next song began being tapped out and she finished the fish, setting the container near the basket as she tried to guess the song.
"Ugh, what good is it to have four ears if I don't really pay attention to music?"
"So caught up in you, little girl
And I never did suspect a thing
So caught up in you, little girl
That I never want to get myself free
And baby it's true
You're the one
Who caught me baby you taught me
How good it could be"
"Oh, aren't you the charmer?" Blake looks over her shoulder with a teasing look in her eyes. "But you know I'm not exactly little anymore." She emphasizes with a shake of her rump, leading to Sun grabbing ahold of the 'bongos'.
"Compared to when we first met? Nope. From a few months ago… yes." He gives the 'drums' a little squeeze.
"Haha! Okay, next song!" Sun complies and begins tapping out the next tune. "The Bugs again, really?"
"Great music from those guys."
"I'm not denying that."
"And when I touch you
I feel happy inside
It's such a feelin' that my love
I can't hide
I can't hide
I can't hide"
"I want to hold your hand!" Blake finishes the song with a smile as their duet ended. "Don't worry, we can do that on the way home."
The next round began but Blake couldn't quite place it, though she was sure her Dad played it often.
"I see you, full of sadness
Wondering about this world we've made
There's a space between us all
Love has seen some better days
Oh we can make it
Oh we can make it
The love in your eyes is all I need to know
I'm never letting go
I'm here for you heart and soul"
"Wow, what is it?" Blake asks once Sun finishes.
"We Can Make It." The blonde gives her a soft smile. "It's pretty good for what we've been through lately."
Blake finally sits up so they can speak face to face, though she took his hands in hers. "We have been through a lot lately… and I can't thank you enough for staying with me… even when I was being a selfish bitch." The last part was added quietly but he heard her clearly.
"Hey, c'mon, don't be so hard on yourself." He reached up and tucks her hair behind a human ear. "You've been there for me when I was pretty bad too and we all have our bad days." That earned him a small smile. "We just gotta push past those times and learn from them. Maybe even remember that we have people we love waiting for us and they could help too."
"And what does that make Neptune?" She just had to ask, though the grin told that it was in jest.
Sun was quick on the uptake and straightened up. "He's my Bro! My Bud! Best friend besides you!"
The mock seriousness of his delivery sent his girlfriend into a fit of giggles that she had to let pass before they could continue.
"I guess I could say the same about my sisters from Beacon. Ruby may have been our leader but her optimism was usually infectious. Some of her ideas were crazy and dangerous and we had to shoot them down. I just hope that with what happened at Vale… didn't destroy the innocence she seems to have. Still, it was kind of nice to have a little sister who looked up to me.
Weiss… we may not have gotten along too well in the beginning but we made things right between us. But with her being the strict brat that she is, she made sure we got things done. And I couldn't ask for a better sister.
And Yang, she was the big sister of the four of us. She'd watch out for us all, let us talk things out but step in when we went too far. Usually there with some bit of advice to help with life, even if she was a bit of a wild one most of the time.
I was the problem child of the group, been in things I shouldn't have been in, always lying to them and everyone else, running away…"
"Hey, isn't being the problem child really how we started hanging out together?" His tail snakes around to poke her belly, lightly tickling her as a distraction from her thoughts. "You had your problems and I have my own brand of trouble and look how we turned out! A happy couple with an entire Kingdom who look up to us!"
"Menagerie isn't a Kingdom, Sun."
"Not yet, but it's getting there!" He declared proudly. "We have a great place here, the CCT is up and running again thanks to us, we've fought off the White Fang twice now, and with the Sirius Academy we'll have Huntsmen of our own to help tame the desert over the mountains."
Blake stared at him and his unwavering confidence in what they've done and what their people have done since they've been here. And it slowly dawned on her on just how influential they have been and the good they've done, with lots of help. The future for the Faunus has never looked brighter and her hopes from childhood were coming true.
"Gah!" Sun let out a small cry as he was tackled back onto the blanket as Blake held him tight as she silently let tears fall.
"I really needed that." She whispered in his ear.
"Any time." He wraps her in his arms as they lay there. A few minutes later, Blake sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Blake, you okay?"
"Yeah… um, I have a song for you too."
"Really? That's great!" He sits up and waits patiently for her to begin.
"There's a garden where I go
If you meet me there, no one will know"
They both smiled as they looked around at their special place and the natural beauty of it all. The birds and insects chirping seemed to fall into her tune.
"But they watch us, and they know
And they're happy as they see our love grow"
It was true that the pair had only had their feelings grow, much like how her waistline had, but even with needing smaller pants again their love never waned.
"We'll sit for a while as I drink in your smile
It feels like a dream that's come true
My head starts to buzz
And my heart fills with love over you"
They couldn't help but laugh a little as they were both guilty of doing that, especially here in their spot.
"You could be with me
We could live inside a garden of ecstasy
I could be your queen"
Sun was quick to shift to a bowing position towards the singing cat, making her giggle through her next lines and pulled him up to stand with her.
"And you've chased away my darkness and gloom
When the wind blows through the trees
And your voice is like a song in the breeze"
The lines seemed almost too perfect for their relationship and a small gust blew up the mountain at the perfect time to ruffle their hair and clothes.
"My doubts disappear every time that you're near
Clouds seem to run from the sky
The thought of your kiss
Sends my soul into bliss, I get high"
Yet more that fit them and they had no problems with describing their actual kisses that way, leaving them both waiting for the next time to get their next fix.
"Like a serenade, every word you say
Has me fallin' more and more in love with you"
Neither of them could stop the wide smiles on their faces as they had been spending so much time just today singing and bonding tighter through music.
"Life's like a fantasy
Maybe set me free
Let's have you be my bumblebee!"
Blake finally finished, leaving Sun slightly confused about what she called him. "You have a great voice for singing and the song was great…"
"Hmm?" She sounded like she knew what he was going to ask.
"What's with the bumblebee thing?"
Her grin went wide, as if she were the cat that caught the canary. "Well… one of us has a stinger, let's see how you use it on me!" With that, she didn't give him a second to ponder her words before she pounced. Once they hit the ground, it was a free for all lip wrestling between the two of them. It wasn't too much longer that clothes began to loosen and move.
"I thought love was only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else, but not for me" Blake began to sing as they got closer.
"And then I saw her face, now I'm a believer
And not a trace, of doubt in my mind
I'm in love, I'm a believer
I couldn't leave her if I tried" Sun picked up on what she was doing during their intimacy and joined in.
Then Blake picked up the next part.
"I thought love was more or less a givin' thing
The more I gave, the less I got, oh yeah
What's the use in tryin'
All you get is pain
When I wanted sunshine, I got rain"
"And then I saw her/his face, now I'm a believer
And not a trace, of doubt in my mind
I'm in love, I'm a believer
I couldn't leave her/him if I tried" They sang together.
It would be a little while before their private garden would drift into peaceful quiet once more.
—-
Qrow sat in front of a display board used by Huntsmen in the area to pick up new missions and check on the status of the jobs, even seeing who had taken them. And what he found saddened him greatly; pretty much everyone on his list was either killed in action or missing. There were a few who had retired from age or injury but they seemed to be the lucky ones.
This just wasn't turning out to be his day. The only thing that made him feel better was giving the families some extra cash for their time. Even covering the tab for Tony at the bar seemed to make the barman reconsider his previous actions.
"Ugh, I need a drink." He grumbles as he stuffs his hands into his pockets and looks for a decent place that wouldn't be under the 'protection' of Spider.
Nearing the door to a place that neither looked run down or busy, he accidently ran into someone who was going in as well.
"Sorry about that." Qrow apologizes.
"Not a problem, we both wanted to get out of this rain, huh?" The redheaded man laughs it off.
"Yeah. But still, I've been having a bad day. Maybe a round or two will help it get better."
"Sounds like a great idea, just so long as you can still walk home."
"Meh, I've been sloshed before and made it back to wherever I call home for the night."
"Sounds familiar to someone I knew before."
"Then let's not waste any time."
"You don't mind if he comes with us? He's just getting a soda and a meal. We needed something different than hotel meals."
Qrow glances down to see a young boy with dark brown hair and olive skin standing to the side but under the awning. "Sorry kid, didn't notice you there."
"N-not a problem."
"What are we waiting for? Let's get in there."
—-
"Salutations everyone! I hope you're ready to dive into a Betta World!" A redheaded girl with green eyes and freckles and a large pink bow in her hair cheerfully greets her audience on the other side of the camera.
"Today we'll be having some fun with Gamma and Epsilon!" She grins as she crouches down to look through the glass of the fish tank that holds two fish, one with a green hue while the other was blue. The tank also held a plastic divider that kept the fish apart.
"As some of you know, Gamma seems to be the most rational of my team. He's always surprisingly calm no matter the situation. And then there's Epsilon, memory like a steel trap! Training him to swim through mazes is easy but should we see how they do when competing with each other?"
The camera pans around to reveal a series of tanks and tubes connected together, the tanks having dividers that would force the fish to navigate to varying levels. It wasn't anything too complex but for the fish it would be a challenge, though there was a prize at the end.
"And at the goal is a helping of food and their favorite treats, along with their very good friend, Texas! Let's see how they do!" Penny cheers as she opens the gates into the tube network and it doesn't take long for Gamma and Epsilon to get to work. On a nearby screen, Penny would glance at a monitor to see the comments of her viewers streaming in. With the CCT network reestablished, she was reaching more than Mantle and Atlas, but the whole world had a few who would find her little show as it went on.
It may have been a hobby at first but at some point she had heard about broadcasting her hobby on the Net and it took off from there. At least her father had an automated system to care for her fish while she was… disabled, or away for missions.
AN: And that's a wrap for this chapter! We got plenty of things going on but what may have gotten some of you thinking, who did Qrow just run into at the bar? I'm kidding, though it is a legitimate question. I'm sure you are all wondering about the songs that Blake and Sun were singing, here's the list.
The song list used during the date are:
8 Days a Week- The Beetles
We Can Make It- Boston
I Want to Hold Your Hand- Beetles
Caught Up in You- .38 Special
BMBLB- Jeff and Casey Lee Williams
I'm a Believer- Smash Mouth
I chose them because I think they match the pair quite well and I leant into the boy band basis of SSSN a little, not that Blake seems to mind. But this won't be the last we see of music being used in this story, far from it. At the same time, I may be trying for a pic of the date at some point, probably draw it up myself. And likely by the end of the year I'll be trying to make a manga version of this story for fun that will be posted on my Deviant Art page.
I hope you've all had a good summer, are staying safe, enjoyed this chapter, and will check out Small Issues. Reviews are welcome!