Okay, So here I am writing again, because honestly I'm bored, now that the gym is gone, I don't have a lot to do. Or at the very least my routine has been disrupted to the point where its too weird. I've been doing everything I can to get a decent workout in. But damn you never realize how much you miss the gym until its gone.

Plus I asked this girl out back home and we agreed to go out when I was home on leave...well that ain't happening for awhile. So shit.

But its good overall.

On Menagerie

"Is it really wise to move research here?" Ironwood asked as Ozpin and the others had deduced what had happened to Team RWBY and JNPR.

"James if we had the facility in Atlas, it would only raise suspicion, we're trying to keep this discreet."

Ironwood knew they needed to be discreet, he just wasn't sure about the place they had chosen to move dust research on the bullet casing they found.

Ironwood had been brought from Atlas, when he received a notifcation on his scroll, it was a mutual tracking device he and Winter kept in case anything was to grow wrong. It worked all over Remnant, and there in lied the problem. The signal suddenly disappeared. Most would think it was because of the scroll having a low battery, but this particular tracker was powered by a separate battery which could last years, the only possible explanation was that it had to have been destroyed, so when that happened, Ironwood immediately flew to Beacon to find out what happened.

Their search led them to the sight where Winter had been with the two huntsman teams. The area itself looked like it had been hit with wind dust or something, because gear was scattered all about, but there was no blood, no sign of an explosion, it was if they had simply been blown away. All they found was a small sample of unknown dust left in the casing for a bullet. They took the sample of it and brought it back for some researchers to look at.

And needless to say, after two weeks there had been issues.

"Sir with all due respect, we're having trouble figuring out the composition of dust that was used."

"IT WAS MADE BY A TEENAGE GIRL IN HER DORM ROOM!"

"...We're sorry Sir."

Ironwood could not believe it, some of the best guys he had from the R&D section of Atlas technology couldn't figure out the measurements or composition for dust that had been used. While two hormonal teenage girls could. It was sounding like something out of a shitty kids adventure novel.

They did find out what it was, granted through a lot of technical and weird science mumbo jumbo that Ironwood couldn't understand, and they found out somehow the dust had the ability to transport people through the space time continuum. They found this out by using the dust to open up a temporary wormhole, the issue was due to the small amount used, they could only keep the portal open for about ten seconds.

Which to be honest, he didn't want to see anymore, because the dust didn't give them a clue as to where Winter was, and even worse, the world he did see was...horrifying.

For some reason he saw a bunch of men in black armor with white crosses and machine guns slaughtering what appeared to be humanoid animals with big tits. Needless to say Ironwood felt the need to throw out after he saw one of the furry humanoids get castrated by some kind of chainsaw rifle.

"WE WILL SPAY, AND WE WILL NEUTER UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!"

Despite how disgusted he was, he couldn't help but feel that it was justified in a way. (1)

But recently, they were worried about a security leak ever since Winter's disappearance. So Ironwood didn't want to risk Beacon possibly finding out about it, so they decided to move research to THE last place people would expect to find them.

Menagerie.

It was rather isolated, and any white fang sympathizers were ones who thought the group was still a peace loving organization, so they were not a threat. And any of the radical elements hadn't been seen since they moved into the main kingdoms to spread their reign of tyranny. And best part is, since the research team was small, they could travel fairly undetected. So they literally were able to find a rundown shop and pose as a regular dust merchant, but if one was to look in the back, they would find plenty of research equipment for the team.

Granted

One would assume that because Menagerie was full of Faunus, that it wouldn't have any issues. However, besides the obvious issues with the land itself, and how the humans had sent them here knowing how it was a land full of problems, Menagerie did have its own issues with homelessness and the poor like anyone else. The homeless wouldn't freeze to death, the climate was too warm for that, Water wasn't an issue, there was plenty of fresh water to go around, but a big issue was being able to get enough food and being able to raise enough money in order to finally move up in life.

Some were lucky and were able to find work abroad, deciding to take their chances in another land where they can could a fresh start. Others took local work and managed to free themselves from poverty. But for some, they were still on the streets, and you had to be smart to be able to survive.

"HEY!"

"Sorry!" A little lion faunus was running as she was in a panic.

"Come on! Come on! Got to get there!" She said as he was running towards work.

Some would wonder why a seven year old was working. Well the truth was that after the orphanage burned down, she had been one of the unfortunate few who had been stuck on the streets. Which meant she had to work alongside the other children who were stuck without a home, some were adopted, but others such as her were not so lucky, especially since in the area she lived, it was still poor and while some were willing to take in one child, most would not take in more than one. So she had been stuck trying to find work when she could. And she managed to find work at the fishery...or at least she did if she could keep it.

Sadly, she overslept, and she was in danger of being late. And the boss there didn't give you any second chances. Especially since she was still a child. While child labor laws in Menagerie were much more lax than in some other parts of the world, it was generally frowned upon, so most places wouldn't hire those under the age of ten. So Nala had been lucky to find this job.

"Come on!" She said as she came to the door of he fishery.

Only to see the boss waiting ouside with a frown on his face.

"You're late."

"I ov-" He held up a hand.

"I'm sorry Nala, you know the rules, can't bend them, not even for you, especially with the risk I already took in hiring you." He said as he fished something out of his pocket.

"Heres some money for some lodging, thats all I can spare, in the meantime might want to find a new job." He said as she frowned.

While the lien was appreciated, this wasn't going to be enough, especially since she needed a steady source of cash flowing through.

Sighing, she did the only thing she could do, go to a local cheap motel, and get a place to stay for a few nights. Luckily she had enough lien she could stay there for three nights with food, but she really needed to find a new job and quick. Miracles didn't happen if you didn't work for them.

Either way she was still mad, before this, life wasn't too bad, sure she lived at the orphanage, but the matron and patron there were good people, they were fair and Nala got to play with the other kids, so she was still having a good childhood. But then the orphanage burned down, the owners could only adopt a few, and they were trying to rebuild the orphanage, but sadly they had lost so much in the fire that they were having a hard time scraping money together to rebuild the orphanage, their insurance only covered so much.

Did Nala hate that she had to work at a young age? Of course she did, but she was smart enough to know she had to survive.

She walked into the cheapest motel she could find and managed to get a room for three nights. Until then, she had to look for a new job.

She knew there was a new dust store opening up on Menagerie, maybe she could go there? It beat the hell out of working in the fishery.

Some would assume because she was part of the feline faunus family that meant she liked fish.

She didn't. In fact she HATED fish. The fact that she had to work at the fishery when she hated the smell of fish pissed her off immensly.

What she would GIVE for a nice steak dinner right now. She found herself drooling at it. Sadly, she shook her head of the thoughts.

If there was one thing she learned, it was that steak was expensive. So most likely the only food she could afford on her budget would be cheap tv dinners.

She sighed as she laid her head back in the hotel bed.

"I need to get out of this place..." Nala would often find herself praying for a new life and a fresh start. Faaarrrrr away from Menagerie.

Sadly that seemed like too far of a dream for a seven year old faunus.

All she wanted was a new life and a chance to be a kid again. Thats all she wanted.

Jem

"Goddammit!" Jem said as he was avoiding Melania as Alex was helping him hide.

"Damn, that girl is obssessed with you, what do you have a big dick or something?"

"No! She's crazy!"

"Ha..you just admitted you have a small dick." Alex giggled as Jem glared.

"First off, fuck you and two, its average! More importantly why is your girlfriend helping her?!" Jem said as Melania and Alex's nameless girlfriend were still hanging out like nothing happened.

"Oh my dearest Jemmy, once a woman is convinced she's right, she won't listen to anything else, women hate being wrong, but the one thing they hate more than being wrong, is someone SAYING that they're wrong."

"So what do I have to do to get Melania off of me?"

"Well, I don't know, you can't exactly disturb her with fetishes because she's a furry and into BDSM, so trying to scare her like that won't work.." Alex put his thumb against his chin as he thought.

"We could always try to convince her you're actually gay, but then again, you almost slept with her so thats not true." Again he was thinking.

"I think the only way this will work is if you get a new girlfriend!" Alex said executing the next step of Winter Hugs and snugz.

"...How about we just pretend I'm gay, that has a higher chance of working." Jem said as Alex giggled.

"Nope! We just got to find you a new date!"

"Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Oh thats easy..." Alex grinned as it was time to plant the seed.

"Winter of course!"

He wasn't expecting Jem to laugh so much.

"HA HA HA HA! Oh my god, thats good." He wiped a tear from his eye.

"Huh?" Alex pretended to play dumb, but he knew what he was doing.

"I mean come on, me go on a date with Winter? That has as much of a chance happening as a weeaboo does of losing his virginity before he turns 30." Jem said as Alex rolled his eyes.

"Well Honey, I'm just saying you two would be cute together."

"No we wouldn't."

"Yes you would, her countess to your farm boy! Its opposites attract!"

"That only happens in shitty romance novels!"

"Okay lets try a simpler approach, you think she's hot right?"

"Well obviously, have you ever looked at her ass? Its like her shorts are painted on!"

"See? You obviously find her attractive...I would have pegged you for a boobs man though." Alex was honestly surprised that Jem was more of an "Ass Man".

"Theres more to relationships that physical attraction, I can find a girl hot as hell but not want to date her."

"And what would be so bad about being in a relationship with her?"

"I'm not getting into this conversation any further! She saw me!" Jem said as Melania found his hiding spot.

"Come back my little wolf!" She said as Jem cringed at that nickname.

Meanwhile Alex was laughing like a maniac on the inside. One would ask why, after all, Jem just said he wouldn't date Winter. But you see, they forgot one thing. All Alex needed to do was plant the seed in his mind. After all, Jem had never thought about dating her before, but now the suggestion was in his head, and because he was cut off from listing his reasons why it would be bad to be in a relationship with Winter, he would be less distracted about their opposite personality traits and more focused on how 'At least she wasn't Tigerstripe.'

"Oh yeah, its all coming together."

(1) Flashgitz Sonic Gets Cucked

And Yes I brought Nala back for this, but as you can tell, a slightly different origin story, as well as a slightly changed personality at first. But don't worry, she's still the little lion cub you remember, just slightly older.