Menagerie
Blake and Sun had just returned from another failed attempt to get volunteers as Grif and Simmons had tea with the family. Church just stayed silent in the corner inspecting his scars on his face, or what little there was left of them.
When they came in Church was the first to greet them, "Hey y'all, any luck?"
"Does it look like we had any luck?" Sun asked after he plopped his face down on the empty couch.
Church went back to the mirror until Blake sat across from him. With a rather, personal question on her mind.
"So how did you know Adam?" Blake asked making everyone pause.
Grif and Simmons lifted up the tea tray and shuffled out the room with Kali and Kai following behind. Sun chose to stay silent, he figured if he didn't make a sound they wouldn't notice him.
Church let a long sigh out before answering, "He was in Atlas at the time... I was getting into trouble being... well me... wasn't long before we got in trouble... I didn't tell him my true self at the time. He thought I was full faunus. He welcomed me like a brother... open arms... gave me some food off his plate... the whole family deal." Church remembered his once friend, "One day when we were in big trouble... we... were getting marked..."
"What do you mean marke- oh..." Blake realized.
Church showed one of the many brands from different companies, "SDC, Atlas Military, even police forces... one day, it was the SDC... we were wearing mask... I wish they took mine off first..."
"You mean..."
"Yeah... maybe he wouldn't be filled with such... feelings towards me and humanity..." That day he was spared from punishment because of who his Dad was, but Adam was not.
"After that day... I couldn't think I could trust anyone else..." Church started to smile, "That was until a certain Teddy bear fell into our lives."
"What did you think when you met him?" Blake wondered if her answer matched his.
Church smiled bigger, "I thought, holy shit... this kid is the embodiment of all things pure and good."
"Right? He would've been robbed if it weren't for us." Blake admitted.
"Oh easily yeah... Tucker was passion... For... obvious reasons..."
"Dude, I remember... the walls were thin..."
"Why did they have to be so loud though?"
The two remembered the nights Tucker showed off his passion to a few certain women.
Blake had a smirk when he mentioned passion, "So... Weiss..."
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Church closed his eyes sort of embarrassed.
"Simmons told us."
His face didn't change just getting a bit pink in his white cheeks, "..."
"Well... gonna say anything?" Blake teased.
Church sipped his tea with a blush while remaining calm, "I don't kiss and tell."
"So... a kiss?" Blake leaned in to smirk at him.
Church looked at her, "So... your friend, Ilia? Care to talk about that? Sister told me."
"She was... her chameleon traits meant she could pass as human. She could've lived a normal life if she wanted, but she didn't. I always admired that. She lost her family in a mining accident when she was young, then she joined the White Fang. Like me, she was more or less trained on the road alongside other Faunus. She learned to survive, to defend herself, but as people like Sienna and Adam started to gain a following, she became more dangerous. I guess I did too. My parents tried to get me to leave with them, but I refused. I had Adam and Ilia, after all." Blake admitted.
"You know we're gonna have to face her eventually." Church informed her.
"I know."
"So, what are you gonna do?"
"I'm going to try and help her the way you and I were helped." Her answer made Church raise an eyebrow, then a smile, "
"Sun showed me that sometimes you need to be there for a friend even when they don't want you to be. I was drowning in guilt and fear, I tried to push people away, but they didn't give up on me. And I can't give up on Ilia. It's about time I saved my friends for once."
Church smiles for a moment, the. his turned to worry... worry about Caboose.
[Mistral]
Back in Mistral, Oscar Pine is in a training room while wielding The Long Memory. As he pants from exhaustion, he hears a voice enter the room.
"You're really getting better, huh?" Caboose pokes his head into the room, "Are you hungry? It's almost dinnertime."
"Uh, yeah. That sounds good. I was about to call it a night anyway." Oscar admitted.
"So, you've never fought before?" Caboose asked in womder.
"Just the occasional small Grimm. Nothing like this, though."
"Wow. You look like a natural."
"It's strange, I have only had this cane for a few weeks, but... I feel like I've had it for a lifetime. Longer, even." He paused, "I sound like a crazy person."
"Not really, I mean a few if my friends tell me sometimes our weapons are extensions of ourselves." Caboose lifted his chainsaw assault rifle he left unnamed, "Take my gun here... I only picked it up five years ago but... it felt like I always carried around."
Oscar tried to ask a question before Caboose carries on.
"Uh..."
"Well, see you upstairs." Caboose smiled as he turned to walk up the stairs.
Oscar interrupted him before he went on, "How do you handle all of this?"
"What do you mean?" Caboose stopped and turned around.
"I'm... scared." Oscar's voice starts to crack, "I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life, than I ever thought was possible." he walks over to a weapon rack, "I always knew that I wanted to be more than a farmhand, but this?" he places the cane in the rack, "Who would ask for this?"
He glances down at the floor as a tear drips from his eye. He sniffles before kneeling to the floor to reach his backpack. He grabs the cane off the rack and pulls the lever on the handle to compact it before putting it in his backpack.
Caboose brought him into a hug, "We all went to Beacon because we wanted to help people. But, you're right. None of us asked for this either. We just have to press on and--"
"How can you be so confident?! People have tried to kill you! The world's about to go to war all over again! How are you okay with any of this?!!"
Caboose is taken aback by Oscar's question. He frowns as he says his response, "When Beacon fell, a lot of my friends got hurt: Penny Polendina, Pyrrha Nikos, Church, Lopez, Grif, Simmons, Yang, even a guy we called Doc. I didn't know them for very long, but that doesn't change the fact that they were the bestest most wonderful people I have ever met. But that didn't save them. Pyrrha thought that if there was even the smallest chance of helping someone, then it was a chance worth taking. And because of that, she may never walk again. Grif and Simmons got busted up pretty badly holding a line, Lopez was shattered helping Ruby, Yang lost her arm . And Penny... was killed... just to make a statement."
"I'm... sorry." Oscar apologized for bringing some upsetting memories.
"I am scared, but not just for me. What happened at Beacon shows that whoever is in charge doesn't care if you're standing against them or not. They'll kill anybody, and that scares me most of all. My friends... I'd be lying if I said that it didn't hurt, that I didn't think about them every day since I lost them, that I didn't wish I had spent more time with them. If it had been me instead, I know they would have kept fighting too, no matter how dangerous it was. So that's what I choose to do - to keep moving forward."
Oscar walks up next to Caboose, and they both share a smile. Caboose picks his head and looks up.
Ruby put a hand on Oscar's shoulder, "C'mon, if we don't hurry, Nora's gonna eat everything. It wouldn't be the first time."
Caboose begins to leave the room as Oscar lingers for a bit, "Hey, Oscar? This isn't gonna be easy, but the fact that you're even trying says a lot about you. You remind me of some of my friends." Caboose smiles and walks up the stairs.
Ozpin mentally spoke to Oscar, "He really is remarkable, isn't he?"
"Yeah. He must've been one of the best Huntsmen at Beacon, huh?" Oscar asked
Ozpin chuckles at the memories, "In some ways, yes. But in many others... no. He has his quirks, his faults, just like everyone else. But he also possesses something unquantifiable: a spark, that can inspire others even in the darkest of times."
"This must be really hard on him too."
"It most assuredly is. However if anyone can bare the weight... it's him." Ozpin admitted.
Menagerie
In an ominous looking room, a small device projecting a blue hologram with the text "MESSAGE END" deactivates. The room is candlelit, and there are White Fang banners hanging along the walls. Corsac and Fennec Albain stand in front of a painting.
Fennec knew his brother's almost too well, "Your thoughts?"
"Are of no significance. If this is how High Leader Taurus wishes to proceed, then we shall make it so." Corsac retorted.
Fennec agreed, "Of course, brother. Still..."
A knock on the door is heard behind them.
"Come in." Corsac admitted.
Ilia Amitola entered the room.
Fennec greeted her so warmly in his creepy way, "Sister Ilia, thank you for meeting with us."
"How may I be of assistance?" Ilia knelt down.
"Please, stand." Corsac asked, "We have wonderful news."
"What is it?"
"We finally received a message from the Mistral brotherhood: the operation was a success. Adam Taurus has claimed his place as the High Leader of the White Fang." Fennec smiled making the young girl uneasy.
"Good. And... Sienna?"
"Things didn't go... exactly as planned." Corsac admitted.
"The other branches of the Fang have been given the story that was agreed upon."
Ilia sighed at the news, "A necessary sacrifice. We won't forget everything she did for us."
"Indeed." Fennec agreed.
The Albains bow at Ilia as Corsac compliments her, "Your maturity and understanding in regards to this matter is appreciated, and it is why we've summoned you here this evening."
"The White Fang is experiencing... a transitional period." Fennec pointed out.
Corsac nodded, "Growth requires change."
"And change can be painful."
"If it's for the betterment of the Faunus, then... it's a pain we can endure. What's our next mission?" Ilia asked.
Corsac started giving out information, "Containment. With the CCT towers still inoperable, we have the luxury of control over the flow of information."
"News of Adam's ascension has yet to reach Menagerie, but when it does, the citizens of Kuo Kuana will undoubtedly react poorly now that the chieftain has spoken out against us." Fennec added.
Ilia sighed at her failure, "It's my fault the Belladonnas had any ground to stand on."
"Do not concern yourself with past failures, Ilia. Focus on the future. We have an opportunity for redemption."
"What do you need me to do?" Ilia asked eager to redeem herself.
Fennec began, "The Belladonnas are the only remaining threat to Adam's assault on Haven Academy."
"And so, they must be silenced..." Corsac finished.
Ilia was visibly taken aback, "S-silenced?"
"Like Sienna. They stand in the way of true progress for our people."
"We would never put such a burden on you alone, of course. Your brothers and sisters will be at your side, but your relationship with their daughter makes you an intrical part of this operation."
"Blake?" Ilia asked.
"We know how close you are with young Blake. Rest assured, High Leader Taurus has requested she be taken alive, but we cannot risk having her present to defend her family." Fennec explained.
"But, the people of Menagerie--"
"Will come to understand what happens to those who speak out against the White Fang." Corsac warned.
"And will be left without a leader until our victory is complete."
Corsac puts a hand on Ilia's shoulder, "A necessary sacrifice, Sister Ilia."
Ilia briefly thinks on this, before leaving the room.
"She's right to worry about the citizens. It's possible they may come to see Ghira as a martyr." Fennec warned.
Corsac argued with his brother, "It is a risk we must take for our High Leader."
Corsac reactivated the device from earlier, showing a blue life-sized hologram of Adam and his message, "I will not allow them to ruin this! The Belladonna name has brought me nothing but grief!" Adam brought his hand to face to compose himself, "You've done well in finding the deserter. Bring her to me, alive. But not before you've slaughtered her family. I have a promise to keep."
The hologram deactivated as Fennec spoke behind his back, "He seems... unwell."
"He carries with him a tremendous burden." Corsac wondered.
"Are we sure he is the one to lead us?"
"For now. We must do what is best for the Faunus."
Fennec sighed just as a knock at the door is heard again, "Yes?"
A Faunus with bat wings enters the room as Corsac greets him warmly, "Brother Yuma. Did you see to Ghira's messenger?"
"He rests beneath the waves... along with his warning." Yuma grinned menacingly.
Corsac smiled back with his brother, "Then all is well."
[End Of Chapter]
Okay so now that this is done I have to ask, should I just have kept these on this story or should I just not have made it separate? Because I'm thinking about putting these back together with the first part of Why Are We Still Here?
I'll leave it to a vote.
In the meantime I wish you all a late, Happy Holidays. Sorry to say but this last year had left me in a depressed mood. Like very bad, in a dark place. But now I'm making a vow to get myself back up.