A/N-Aaaaand we're back, and it hasn't been several months this time! New record! (Awkwardly tries to hide the fact this chapter gas been done for over a week but had been putting off submitting it in favor of video games)... Yup! I am not a procrastinator at all! Sure ain't! I don't even know why you would say that! Hope you enjoy your dose of Ilia angst!
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"Quit taking pot shots, and fight me like you mean it!"
Ilia shouted over the roaring flames around her as they eagerly devoured the Belladonna's home. The chameleon girl's whip blade danced in the air in front of her as she swung it, deflecting the dust infused bullets fired in her direction. Ilia's eyes burned with hatred, focused solely on Blake as the cat eared girl emptied Gambol Shroud's clip on her former friend, who continued to effortlessly swat away every shot.
Liar. Betrayer. Coward. a voice in Ilia's head whispered. She's your enemy now, not just to you, but to all faunus. Blake was never your friend, she abandoned you, left you to suffer, now she's come back to try and destroy everything the White Fang has built, everything you helped build! That voice had been Ilia's only friend this last year, her only source of comfort after her best friend had disappeared without a word. Sometimes it sounded like Corsac and Fennec, other times it was Adam, but recently it had begun sounding more and more like Ilia herself. It helped bury away all her sadness and grief, and fueled her anger and hatred, sharpening them into weapons for the White Fang's war against humanity.
Hate her. Fight her. KILL her.
Ilia brought her arm back, and Lightning Lash swirled behind her before she lashed out at Blake, her lightning fast whip crackling with electricity at it surged towards the cat faunus' face. The strike hit, but then the image of Blake shimmered and fell away to shadow as the real cat girl leapt back out of harms way. Ilia grit her teeth in frustration as Blake seemed determined to avoid fighting her seriously.
She's tricky. She thinks she's better than you. She's not even treating you like you're a threat. She's mocking you... that voice in Ilia's head went on and on, stoking the fire in the lizard faunus' heart.
Blake disappeared behind the second floor balconies guard rail. "You used to see things the way I did!" Ilia yelled up at her "The way Adam did!" An unforeseen wave of guilt washed over the pony-tailed girl when she mentioned Blake's old partner. She knew bringing Adam up would hurt the cat faunus, throw her off her game, but the dirty tactic left a bad taste in Ilia's mouth. The feeling was brief however, quickly extinguished by all the animosity the chameleon girl had accumulated for Blake over the last year.
"If no one's going to do anything to stop the humans that attack us, then the only choice we have left is to attack back!" Ilia again shouted at no one, as Blake still hadn't reappeared from her hiding place.
Yes, that's right. Violence is the only way now.
Show her. KILL her!
Ilia's anger reached a boiling point. This was all Blake's fault! She never should have come back! Ilia had tried to warn her, told her to leave Menagerie, she'd practically begged her to! Ilia obviously didn't want to do this, so why was Blake making her?
Suddenly, the cat faunus popped up from cover and fired the glock in her weapons hilt down at the waiting lizard girl. Blake pulled her trigger nine times, emptying all the shots in her fresh clip, and with a rage filled yell, Ilia batted away every one of them, just as easily as she had before. Her prey in sight, the chameleon girl swung back Lightning Lash for another electricity filled slash, ready to tear down the entire balcony if she had to. She brought her weapon forward quickly with another shout, expecting a crackle of energy from her whip, along with the usual tingle in her gloved hand as she pulled the trigger, but when she did there was nothing.
"Huh?" Ilia looked to her weapon in disbelief, her eyes going wide when she saw her whip blade was... frozen? Lightning Lash's blade was covered in ice, still curved as it had been slicing through the air a moment ago. When did-
Then it hit her. Those shots Blake had fired, they must have been laced with ice dust. The cat girl hadn't been trying to hit Ilia, she'd been trying to disable her weapon, and the lizard faunus had played right into her hands. As Ilia chided herself for falling for such an obvious ploy, Gambol Shroud suddenly flew down, it's long ribbon wrapping around the end of the pony-tailed girls frozen weapon. Then before the chameleon girl could reestablish her grip, the whip blade was yanked from her hands. Ilia watched helplessly as Lightning Lash clattered across the wooden floor, she was about to go after it, but then suddenly she looked up to see Blake's body flying right at her.
Ilia grunted as the cat faunus' legs collided with her chest, knocking the wind out of her and sending her onto her back, Blake's body pinning her down to the floor. The black haired girl grabbed both of the chameleon faunus' wrists and held them in place at her sides. "You're wrong!" Blake yelled, "There's always another choice!"
LIAR! The voice in Ilia's head shouted back. SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT! The chameleon girl scowled up at her former friend as she tried to push herself up, only managing to get a few inches off the ground before the cat faunus' superior strength forced her back down.
"Ilia, please," Blake begged, "you're a good person, but you're making all the wrong decisions."
"SHUT UP!" Ilia roared back, kicking her legs and struggling furiously, trying to break free.
Don't listen! She left you all alone! She doesn't know anything about you! Anger and hate are all you have left! You're nothing without them!
Blake continued to hold her friend in place, "Is this really what your parents would've wanted!?"
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!"
Ilia stopped struggling, shocked by her own words, not knowing where they had even come from. It was like something deep down inside the pony-tailed girl that had been cracked was finally broken when Blake mentioned the lizard faunus' parents. It was the wall Ilia had placed inside herself years ago, something she'd made to make all the fighting and violence easier, and tucked away behind that wall was the old Ilia, the real Ilia, hiding. A little girl, lonely, hurting, and most of all, scared of what she'd become. In her scream of desperation, that part of Ilia had reawakened itself in a way, as memories came back to her, ones she'd hidden away a long time ago.
She saw her parents, their proud faces the day they'd gotten Ilia accepted into that prestigious Atlas prep school. The way they'd told her to befriend humanity, but also be wary of them. The way they'd smiled for her... the last time she'd ever see them... as she walked out the door on her way to school... on the day of the dust mine collapse in Mantle.
Everything else after that seemed to flash through Ilia's head too quickly to keep up with. All that repressed anger from her parents death, the violence she'd experienced with the White Fang that had let her express that anger. Blake, on her knees, still wrapped in Trifa's webs, looking up at her, horrified at what her old friend had become. All that lead up to this moment, Blake on top of her, the fire surrounding the two of them, the fear and desperation on the cat girls face morphing into shock and pity at Ilia's words. The voice in the chameleon faunus' head was silent now, it knew it had been beaten... this time. However it's final words were etched in Ilia's mind,
Anger and hate are all you have, you're nothing without them...
And that's what she was, deep down inside, she was nothing. She'd lost herself, and all the anger and bravado was just a mask to cover up the fact that was she was alone and afraid, not just of what she'd become, but of what her parents would say if they were alive to see her today.
Ilia's blue eyes filled up with tears as the Belladonna's house burned around them.
"... I don't know what else to do..."
Ilia's tired, slightly bloodshot eyes opened slowly. The chameleon faunus let out a long, tired breath through her nose before reaching over to grab her scroll on the bed next to her. She didn't even have to look at it to know she'd barely been asleep for an hour this time. Alas, she was wrong, it had only been thirty two minutes, Ilia had barely passed a half hour of sleep tonight.
The lizard girl groaned softly, letting her arms fall to the mattress underneath her with a thump on the white sheets. She was so tired, but her body and mind just refused to let her sleep. Ilia had really hoped this trend she'd fallen into would end after a few restless nights, but it had been over a week and a half since the fire at the Belladonna's and still she found herself plagued by insomnia. The nightmares she had when she did manage to fall asleep weren't exactly helping either, though neither did her newest surroundings if she was honest.
The S.S. Pride was far from the worst boat Ilia had ever been on, but there was plenty to keep her on edge. The unfamiliar creeks and groans of the metal ship, the low hum of the engines turning, and the slightly less than gentle rocking of the ocean underneath her all added to the list of things keeping her up. Luckily the trip from Menagerie to Anima was blissfully short, so she'd only have to withstand all this for one night. Plus she'd also managed to get a room to herself, which was surprising considering just how many faunus had been crammed onto the vessel, but Ilia had a feeling there was a reason she was alone on this voyage.
A lot of the faunus on this boat knew she was former White Fang herself, that she'd been a member as recently as just over a week ago, and as rumors were starting to spread about her, the lizard girl couldn't help but feel like the others just didn't trust her. She wasn't totally outcast though, Blake trusted her, so did the cat girls parents, Sun too even, they'd offered space in their own room for the chameleon faunus, but Ilia had politely refused. Things were still just... weird between Blake and herself, as much as the lizard girl hated to admit it, there was no denying the fact, and unfortunately, that didn't seem to be changing anytime soon. So sharing a room with her friend wasn't something she was ready to endure just yet. Ilia rubbed her sleep deprived eyes before sitting up, running a hand over her head in exasperation and exhaustion, before pocketing her scroll, getting up, and leaving her cabin.
The passengers corridor was unsurprisingly empty, seeing as how it was just after 2am. Aside from a small skeleton crew steering the ship and keeping an eye out for any problems on the horizon, it was safe to assume everyone else was resting peacefully. That is, except for a wide awake Ilia walking down the hall to... get some air? She hadn't really decided just where she was going to tell the truth, the reptilian faunus just figured getting up and walking around would be good for clearing her head. The door leading to the ship's deck was closed, but not locked, so Ilia popped it open and stuck her head out, taking a quick look to make sure she was alone. No one seemed to be out there, so the pony-tailed girl stepped onto the wooden deck and leaned against the hand rail, staring out into the ocean, the moons shattered reflection gleaming off the waters surface.
It wasn't too cold out, which was nice since Ilia's normal outfit didn't cover her arms and legs. She would have changed, but honestly, the long haired faunus didn't own many different clothes, working in the White Fang didn't exactly allow her to collect wide selection of outfits over the years. Not that the lizard girl cared as her combat gear suited her just fine as far as fashion went, but more importantly it functioned well in a fight, allowing a wide range of movement. Regardless, the cool air was actually a nice reprieve from Menagerie's tropical climate, not to mention the stuffiness of Ilia's cabin on the ship.
The pony-tailed faunus stared off into the distance for a bit, the sea seeming to stretch on forever before her, no sign of Anima in sight, but according to the Pride's captain, they'd arrive pretty late into the afternoon. The scenery was nice, the stars were out in full force tonight, dotting the sky, and framing the moon's broken image, but it didn't do much to distract Ilia from the thoughts keeping her awake, so she reached into her back pocket and grabbed her scroll, hoping she'd find something else to occupy all the free time she found herself with.
The device had been returned to her only a day ago, just before the faunus militia had left Menagerie, with everything that had happened, Ilia had forgotten the Belladonna's took it from her when she'd been caught spying on Blake, under Corsac and Fennec's orders of course. Getting it back hadn't been as easy as just asking unfortunately, the scroll had been in police custody, being thoroughly dug through by the authorities, looking for any possible White Fang information. Everything pertaining to the criminal organization had been downloaded and removed, but luckily, all Ilia's personal data seemed to be intact when she finally recovered it. The device cast an eerie greenish blue glow on the chameleon girls face as she activated it and started aimlessly browsing her files. Ilia didn't pay many of them any mind, until she got to a familiarly labeled one, one she hadn't looked in for a long time, it was named, "B+I".
After hesitating for a moment, her finger hovering over the file, Ilia pressed down and opened it. A collection of photos filled the screen, some taken by Ilia, some by Blake, some by other faunus in the Fang back in the day. The chameleon girl had gone through a lot of scrolls over the years, but she always made sure to back up her photos every chance she got, transferring them every time she got a new device. It was stupid, but Ilia was really attached to the old pictures, despite the apparent lack of quality and skill they displayed, they were still special memories to her.
Then Blake left, and suddenly Ilia decided dwelling on the past wasn't worth it anymore.
Now, as the pony-tailed faunus swiped through the literal hundreds of photos she'd collected, Ilia felt a tiny smile creep onto the edges of her lips. She was glad that even in her darkest moments, she'd never had the heart to delete any of them. Lot's of the pictures were of landscapes Ilia had found mesmerizing in her travels all over Remnant. Places like Forever Fall, the Light's Over Crestmaker, Glimmer Springs, just to name a few. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were also a lot of photo's of Blake in there... like, almost an embarrassing amount.
There was Blake reading, Blake training, Blake mid bite into a giant tuna sandwich. The cat eared girl had been pretty upset about Ilia taking that last one, but it was still one of the lizard girls favorites. Still though, it was a little embarrassing having all these photos, it was like an album dedicated to Ilia's former obsession, one that had been apparently obvious to everyone except the girl she'd been obsessed with at the time. The pony-tailed faunus really hoped Blake hadn't seen any of these when her family had her scroll in their possession, that would be mortifying.
Ilia had spent so much of her life fixated on Blake, even when the cat girl was gone for that year she'd preoccupied the reptilian girl's thoughts, though in a much more negative sense. Now that it was clear her friend didn't feel the same way Ilia did, she honestly didn't know what to do with the excess time and energy in her life. It was like her mind felt less crowded, but also more lonely than ever. The lizard girl continued browsing photos until one made her stop. It was of Blake (shocker), Ilia herself... and Adam.
The memory came quickly, some random passerby had taken the picture, it was in a forest in Vale... two months before Blake had disappeared. Ilia remembered it distinctly. The three of them had just come back from a raid with a mountain of supplies for their camp. Spirits were high among the White Fang back then, and one of the faunus staying with them had suggested a photo of the "heroes" returning victorious. Adam had been uncompromisingly against the idea at first, but once Blake and Ilia had agreed, he seemed more amicable to the request. The lizard faunus hadn't considered it at the time, but Adam had probably just not wanted anyone posing for a picture with his partner. Looking back, when the bull faunus had possessively wrapped his arm around Blake's shoulder, he'd pulled the cat girl slightly further from Ilia. The pony-tailed girl hadn't cared however, she just sidled up on Blake's left, Adam at the raven haired girls right, and smiled, the camera's flash catching her blue eyes drifting to her right, observing the cat faunus' smile as the picture was taken.
This was all, again, very embarrassing, but it wasn't what Ilia found herself focused on. Instead, her eyes were locked on Adam, the way his hand gripped Blake's bare shoulder tightly, the arrogant smirk on his face, and his mask. The lizard girl had know Adam for years, yet had never seen him without his Grimm-like disguise, but she didn't need to see the top half of his face to feel the menacing aura the man gave off, even in a seemingly innocent photo.
Adam never had difficulty expressing himself, despite having almost half of his face covered at all times. He was confident, proud, and strong, in fact everything he did exuded strength, and that's one of the things that drew people to follow him, Ilia included. However, there was another side to that strength, one that the bull faunus wasn't afraid to show if he had to.
A frightening memory surfaced in Ilia's mind. Adam, furious, looking down at her as she laid on the ground, stunned. His left hand was gripping his sheath, Blush, while his right sat on Wilt's hilt, ready to draw it at a moments notice. The red markings on his mask and gloves burned brightly as all of his rage was directed right at the cowering Ilia as he growled out one question through his clenched teeth;
"Where. Is. She?"
The lizard faunus shuddered at the image in her head as her heart began to slam against her rib-cage in panic. Again, a cold chill went down her back, aggravating the old scars she kept hidden. Blake had left, disappeared while on a train heist with Adam, leaving him to find his way back to the White Fang's camp alone.
And once he did, who do you think the first person he came to for answers was?
Ilia closed her scroll, unable to even look at that monster anymore.
Are you any better?
There it was. That old voice in the back of Ilia's head that she still heard in her darkest moments.
Don't forget, you were the one tasked with sending her back to that "monster". All wrapped up like a present, remember?
Ilia shut her eyes even tighter, trying to block out her own inner monologue.
What's worse I wonder? Being a monster, or serving one complacently?
The poor lizard faunus brought a hand to her forehead to try and quell the throbbing migraine her guilt ridden conscience was causing her. She kept telling herself, she wasn't that person anymore. She'd done bad things, yes, but she was doing her best to make amends, that was all she could do.
Liar. The voice ran back. You knew you weren't strong enough to beat Blake, that's why you sided with her, just to save your own skin.
No! She wanted to be better! Blake had finally managed to get through to her, and-
Corsac was just standing there, completely defenseless, with his back to you. Did you feel like a big hero electrocuting him and then saving the day? No way Ghira would ever arrest someone who'd just saved his family, and you knew that.
That wasn't true!... was it? Ilia honestly didn't know anymore. Things that night had happened so fast that the lizard girl had a hard time figuring out just what her motives had been in attacking Corsac. She'd been scared at the time, the adrenaline from the fighting had taken over a long time ago at that point, so Ilia had just kind of... acted. Whether those actions had been selfish or selfless, not even Ilia really knew anymore.
Ilia's internal struggle raged on, until suddenly the lizard fauns heard the door she'd come through open behind her, accompanied by soft footsteps. The pony-tailed girl spun to face the new arrival, her hand instinctively at her hip, despite Lightning Lash being back in her room. That hardly mattered though, she might be weaponless, but she was far from defenseless.
The lights from inside the ship, behind the figure standing in the door frame, cast a shadow over their features, making it impossible to tell who it was. They took a shaky step forward onto the deck, gripping the door frame before mumbling,
"H... help..."
Then they started falling face first onto the floor.
(FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLIER)
Carmella stared miserably up at the ceiling of her cabin, unable to sleep. This wasn't the result of a guilty conscience, like a certain lizard girl on the same boat, but rather it was the turbulence of the ocean that was currently wreaking havoc on the poor girls stomach. The rabbit faunus didn't dare move, at the risk of another wave of nauseousness washing over her.
When she'd first heard about the boat trip, Carmella had been ecstatic! Though, honestly any kind of traveling would have been exciting to her, but the experience itself was new and that had made it thrilling to her. The first few hours had been fine, Carmella eagerly buzzed around the Pride, "ooo-ing" and "aw-ing" at everything she saw, and eager to get to Mistral and kick some White Fang butt! But then the ship hit choppier waters, and the dizziness hit, and suddenly the long eared faunus felt all the energy and vigor she'd had disappear. The rabbit girl became particularly aware of the boats movements, swaying and rocking with the waves, back and forth, and back and forth, and-
"Ugh," Carmella said in whispered agony, trying her best not to wake the faunus she was sharing a room with just because she was a little seasick.
The Pride lurched yet again with a metallic groan and Carm's rabbit ears sunk down, almost hanging over her face. She couldn't believe this, all that training over the last week and now the rabbit girl had been taken out before the Battle for Haven even started. There was no way they'd let her fight if anyone saw her like this, which is why Carmella had made sure to hide her illness from everyone. She only had to make it to dry land, then she'd be fine... probably... she hoped so anyway. But it wouldn't matter how sick she was, if she didn't get any sleep the night before the battle she'd be just as useless.
Carmella grabbed the ends of her rabbit ears and pulled them down over her eyes, the extra darkness they provided did help a little to alleviate her growing headache, but the young faunus' stomach continued it's rampage. Maybe splashing a little cold water on her face would help? She did feel a little warm. The idea certainly seemed appealing, but it also meant Carmella would have to stand, something that seemed both impossible and unreasonable to even ask of her right now.
No, you know what? Screw this, Carm thought. I didn't bust my butt all week long to let a little seasickness keep me down! With a glimmer of resistance in her honey colored eyes, the rabbit girl slowly began sitting up, then carefully swung her legs over the edge of her cot, and set her bare feet on the floor.
I can do this. I can do this! Just a quick trip to the bathroom, and then back to bed. She gripped the metal frame under her mattress, and ignoring the desperate pleas in the back of her mind to stop, Carmella pushed herself to her feet. Horns of victory played in the rabbit girls head as she stood to her full height, finally vertical, the insurmountable struggle finally overcome.
Then she threw up on her bed.
The retching almost made Carm fall to the floor, but somehow she was able to stop herself before she almost landed face first in the mess she'd just made. The weak-kneed rabbit girl wobbled in place there for a moment, trying to take in what had just transpired. Now not only was she sick, but she couldn't even crawl back into bed if she wanted to. The tired, frustrated, nauseous, and now disgusted faunus looked upon the remains of the carrot cake her mom had packed for her trip that was now soaking into her cot and felt her eyes well up with tears.
She didn't want to be here anymore, she hated boats now. She was so tired and just wished she was at home, in her own warm, comfortable, clean bed. The only thing that kept Carmella from breaking down completely into a sobbing mess right then and there was the several other faunus resting undisturbed around her. The last thing she wanted was to wake her roommates and have them see her right now, a mess and near tears.
So the emotionally exhausted faunus began trying to real in her emotions. Okay, this isn't a huge deal, it's just a little mess. All you need to do is get to the bathroom, clean yourself up, then find some clean sheets, preferably without vomiting all over the place. Sounds easy enough.
It wasn't.
Carmella barely took a step before she felt the boat lurch under her and nearly crumpled to the ground. Maybe she should she just give up and sleep on the floor?
No, she was supposed to be a fighter now! Ready to help take on a corrupt White Fang! She'd always wanted to be a Huntress, and a Huntress would never just lay down and give up, so neither would she!
Ignoring her twisting and churning stomach, Carmella stood up straight, taking a deep breath before trying to walk again. She was much more successful this time, though still a bit wobbly as she took slow unsteady steps. Though sheer willpower and determination, the rabbit girl made it out of her cabin, and without waking any of her roommates either! She was feeling pretty good about herself, that is until the ship rocked again ever so slightly and Carm felt the color drain from her face as a new level of nauseousness came to her.
The bunny faunus leaned against the clean white wall of the hallway, her head and stomach seemingly competing to see who could cause her the most pain at once. The fluorescent lights above her hummed loudly as the hallway seemed to rotate and contort in front of Carmella. The rabbit girls ears fell down against her head, again, the thought of giving up crossed her mind, but was immediately rejected and Carm began making her way down the hall, holding the wall as she moved. All the she had to do was make it to the bathroom... where was that again? It's probably be easier to find if the ships hallways would stop moving so much in the young faunus' head. The lights seemed to glow brighter and louder now, strengthening Carmella's migraine.
Carm was barely able to keep her eyes open, she stumbled down the hall, almost delirious at this point. There was an open door at the end of the hallway, focusing on it seemed to help the rabbit faunus maintain her balance a little better, so she kept shuffling towards it, like it was a beacon of a lighthouse shining over a turbulent sea. Then the smell of salty sea air wafted in through the open door, and as soon as it reached Carmella's nostrils she felt whatever was left in her stomach leap upwards. Seeing no other options, the rabbit girl rushed forward to the exit, at least if she was outside she could throw up over the side of the ship and into the stupid ocean as some meaningless act of revenge.
Carmella leaned against the door frame, she looked up and saw a shadowy, blurry figure in front of her. With her tired, emotionally fried brain Carm did her best to summon words, but all she could manage to say was "H... help...", before gravity finally won the battle against her and the exhausted faunus' body fell forward.
Everything after that was a blur to Carmella. She expected to feel the sharp impact of her head hitting the unforgiving wooden deck of the ship, but it never came, there was just a feeling of weightlessness followed by a damp, cool, feeling washing over her face. Then there was an odd, but certainly not unpleasant smell, almost peppery and sharp, but also cool and relaxing to the senses that washed over her as the last bits of her conscientiousness faded away.
A pair of warm yellow eyes blinked open, a ray of sunlight shining in through a small window and onto her face, rousing the rabbit girl from her slumber. Carmella rolled over, away from the light, wrapping the warm blanket around herself as she buried her head into the soft pillow beneath her and closed her eyes-
Wait. Blanket? Pillow? Sunlight?
Carm's eyes shot back open and she sat straight up in the bed she was in, which she immediately recognized was not only not her assigned bed, but wasn't even in her room.
"Wait, what?" the rabbit faunus said to the empty room in confusion. Carmella brought her hand to her stomach when she noticed it wasn't doing barrel rolls inside her anymore, her headache had even gone away as well.
"Wait, what?" Then the long eared girl noticed a metal cylinder on the nightstand next to the strange bed, upon closer inspection, she saw it was a thermos, there was also a note under it.
Curious, Carmella grabbed the piece of stationary and began to read it. The rabbit faunus' eyes went wide, she looked from the note, to the thermos, to the signature at the end of the note. This process repeated several times as the still half asleep teenager did her best to process what she'd just read.
"Wait, WHAT!?"
EARLIER
Ilia trudged down the ships hall with a sour look on her face, cradling a barely conscious rabbit faunus in her arms. "I should have just stayed in bed," she muttered under her breath.
How had she gotten here? The chameleon girl had just been minding her own business, wallowing in her misery as she usually did these days, when this rabbit girl stumbled out of the ship and practically collapsed in front of her. Luckily Ilia had been quick enough to catch her before this strange faunus did a face-plant on the wooden deck of the ship. Upon checking her over for any injuries or signs as to why she might have fainted, the pony-tailed girl realized this was the same rabbit faunus she'd had that awkward moment with about a week ago at the beginning of training and suddenly Ilia had felt her skin change magenta in embarrassment as she realized she was holding the dazed teenager quite tightly in her arms.
But then Ilia tried to move the rabbit girl off of her, and the half awake teens cheeks puffed out and then...
"...No more... carrot cake, mom..." the delirious faunus in the chameleon girls arms murmured.
Yes, carrot cake, much like the partially digested one that covered Ilia's arm right now. Great. It was amazing how quickly something like nervousness around another person went out the window once said person regurgitated the contents of their stomach on you. Anyone sane would have just left someone who'd put them through that on the floor were they'd fallen, but for some reason, Ilia didn't. Maybe it had something to do with this girl being one of the lizard faunus' students (she'd never get used to calling them that). She felt responsible for this girl in a way, even if this was the one person Ilia had been going out of her way to avoid for the last week or so.
Ever since their "meeting" on that second day of training, the chameleon faunus had done everything she could to distance herself from this rabbit girl in particular. It wasn't that she particularly disliked her or anything, in fact the problem was more of the compete opposite. It was stupid really, Ilia had been fighting for years now; against humans, faunus, and things a thousand times more terrifying than that, but apparently a pretty girl smiling at her was enough to turn the hardened warrior into a blushing mess. It was embarrassing, and not something the young reptilian faunus could tolerate right now. This girl was a distraction, that's all this was, a idiotic little crush developing out of nowhere that Ilia didn't have time to dwell on, not with the Battle for Haven, her chance for redemption, on the horizon. So she'd done the only plausible thing, alienated the rabbit faunus as best she could, ignoring her whenever possible, which wasn't hard considering the number of faunus Ilia had been teaching. Besides, the caramel haired girl didn't seem to be terribly interested in her "teacher" anyway, so everything had worked out for the best, right? Yet, despite all of this, fate had brought them together again anyway, it'd almost be romantic if the reunion hadn't been so disgusting to Ilia.
Regardless, the chameleon girl just hadn't been able to bring herself to abandon this girl in the middle of the night, so she'd scooped the rabbit faunus up in her arms and that's how she found herself carrying a delirious girl through the quiet ship, praying that no one would see them. Fortunately, the long eared teen was surprisingly light, or maybe Ilia was just stronger than she thought. Speaking of strong, despite her initial assumption that this rabbit faunus was all skin and bones, now that the lizard girl held her up close, she became strikingly aware of the lean muscle hiding just under the surface, especially the ones in her back that Ilia could feel with her hands wrapped around the girls waist, not to mention the ones in the rabbit faunus' long, smooth legs that-
Ilia stopped her train of thought as her cheeks burned scarlet, instead trying to focus on literally anything else, like finding a place to put this poor girl. The pony-tailed faunus had tried asking her what room she was staying in, but didn't get a coherent answer. Luckily, Ilia knew where there was an empty bed that no one was using, or rather, that she herself wasn't using.
The lizard girl looked down to the rabbit faunus curled up against her chest as she walked. Ears hanging low, pale complexion, and -Ilia could safely assume at this point- nausea, the symptoms made it pretty obvious what was wrong. The chameleon faunus had traveled quite a bit in the her days with the Fang, usually by boat, so she knew a case of severe seasickness when she saw it. It was pretty common among faunus actually, especially those with two sets of ears. Something about that extra two holes in your head meant your balance could get messed up pretty badly during sea travel, and it was never pretty to witness. Unfortunately, the only real way to get over seasickness was to just get used to traveling on the ocean, there was no cure, but their were ways to ease the discomfort associated with it.
Ilia finally arrived at her cabin and gently kicked the door open. She carried the still out of it rabbit girl to her bed and gingerly placed her in it, then pulled the covers over her about halfway. The long eared faunus' breathing was a little heavy, not enough to worry the reptilian teen since no one had ever died from a little seasickness... she hoped, but it was enough for Ilia to tell just how uncomfortable the unfortunate girl was in her current condition. The pony-tailed girl reached a hand towards the other faunus' face, hesitating slightly in embarrassment before gently pushing aside the girls caramel colored bangs and resting the back of her hand against the rabbit faunus' forehead to check her temperature on the off chance she was wrong and this was more than just a little seasickness. The rabbit girl barely reacted to the touch, mumbling slightly in her deliriousness, but still Ilia had to fight from changing color. This wasn't a big deal, she wasn't up to anything nefarious here, Ilia just wanted to make sure this girl was okay, there was no need for her to get all worked up about this. Then why was the lizard faunus' heart beating so fast right now?
Ilia shook her head, again chasing away the distracting thoughts and focusing on her impromptu "patient". This girl was a little warm, which could mean a lot of things, but it didn't appear she had a fever or anything, it was probably just a result of the stress the situation was causing the incoherent faunus. The lizard girl wasn't even close to considering herself a doctor, but over the years she'd picked up a few things from people she'd met in her travels. Living outside the kingdoms meant knowing how to take care of yourself, and sometimes others, so Ilia knew a few remedies for this kind of thing and figured it was worth a shot.
First thing was first, she needed to cool this poor girl down. Ilia had bought a first aid kit before she'd left Menagerie, figuring it couldn't hurt to have in case of emergencies, and grabbed an ice pack from it, along with a small towel the ship had provided her in her room. With a twist of her wrist, the lizard faunus snapped the ice pack, activating the ground up ice dust crystals inside, before wrapping it in the towel and placing the small bundle across the rabbit girls forehead. Her patient let out sharp breath at the cool touch before her breathing relaxed slightly. Ilia smiled at this, before she turned and left the room to clean herself off and make a quick trip to the ships galley.
Back during the start of her White Fang days, Ilia had spent a lot of time on the ocean, traveling between continents. Of course a group like the Fang sometimes faced discrimination when it came to securing a vessel willing to ferry them, even before the group had taken a turn for the slightly psychotic. Lucky for them, there had been an old, salty sea captain who'd made it his unofficial duty to fulfill the faunus group's sea faring needs. The chameleon girl had fond memories of the gray bearded walrus faunus, he told a lot of interesting stories to Blake and herself, as well as the other children traveling with the White Fang back then, all about his life and adventures as a captain, even if his long tusks made him a little hard to understand. Ilia had doubts about the authenticity of a lot of these tall tales, but they were a welcome break from the monotony of sea travel, which was especially bad for a kid. The old faunus had ferried the group for years, but sadly, one day he just disappeared. His ship was discovered washed up on the shore of Sanus, badly damaged, with no one on board. There were legends of giant sea Grimm off the coast of Vale, so maybe the old man got to be a part one last tall tale before he went, probably the way he'd of wanted to go, or at least Ilia tried to take comfort in that thought.
It'd been a tragedy, but the captain had passed along more than just a few far fetched sea stories, which is why Ilia was currently picking the lock to the ships kitchen. The doors simple mechanisms popped open with a satisfying *click* and Ilia stepped inside. Thankfully, the cupboards were pretty well stocked with food, but Ilia passed over most of it, making a bee-line to the jars of spices on the rack by the stove. After finding what she needed, the lizard girl filled a nearby kettle with water and tossing in some mint, ginger, as well as a few more odds and ends she needed before setting it on the burner and turning it on.
That old walrus faunus had ways of dealing with seasick passengers once they started showing symptoms on his boat. As soon as he saw any of the telltale signs; nausea, dizziness, pallor, and fatigue, the old salty captain would immediately start brewing up a huge batch of what he affectionately called "Seaman's Sick"... but Ilia preferred to just call it what it was basically; ginger mint tea. The lizard girl couldn't help but smile at her memories of the old faunus. He was a bit of a blowhard, but he genuinely cared about people. It was always nice to be reminded that she'd managed to meet a few positive role models in her admittedly morally gray life. Ilia hoped he'd be happy knowing she was using what he'd taught her to help those in need, just like he had.
The instant the water started to whistle as it reached a boiling temperature, Ilia quickly removed it from the burner, not wanting the noise to alert any of the passengers or crew. She noticed a row of heavy duty thermos' on a shelf next to the stove and grabbed one, filling it to the brim with the piping hot and strong smelling beverage. The chameleon faunus also snagged a few clean cups on her way out and then headed back to her room.
The rabbit girl was right where Ilia had left her, barely stirring as the pony-tailed girl pulled up the single wooden chair in her room to sit in. She was actually starting to feel a little tired herself now, all this activity and sneaking around must be wearing her out. Ilia set the tea cups on the nightstand, filling them both up about halfway. Obviously, she didn't expect the unconscious faunus to actually drink the tea in her current state, but the brew's smell was so potent and soothing that the lizard girl figured it would be enough to at least make sure the seasick rabbit girl was able to get some much needed rest while she got over her illness. Ilia held one of the cups of tea up close to the long eared girls face, letting the relaxing smell waft towards her. The rabbit faunus' expression softened at the aroma, her head lolling to the side as she finally looked like she was no longer in agony and was instead resting peacefully.
Seeing the girls improved condition, Ilia let out a soft breath in relief, then set the cup on the table next to the rabbit faunus, allowing the tea's smell to keep working it's magic. Suddenly, one of the resting teens long ears twitched, getting the chameleon girls attention. She found herself staring at the rabbit ears. Ilia had known a lot of faunus with this trait over the years, but she'd never really observed their ears up close before, they looked so... soft. At that moment, the pony-tailed girl noticed one of her hands was outstretched, she'd been subconsciously reaching towards the girls extra set of ears while she watched them. Ilia stopped herself, practically fusing her betraying arm to her side, stunned by her sudden lack of self control.
The chameleon girl picked up the chair she'd grabbed and moved it away from the bed. The last thing she needed was for this girl to wake up with another faunus standing over her in a strange room. This situation was already weird enough for everyone, it didn't need to be upgraded to creepy.
Ilia had taken a big risk bringing her here. So why had she done it? Why go so far to help someone who was practically a stranger to her? Ilia sat in the chair and picked up the other cup of tea as she pondered this question. Like she'd said before, she couldn't just leave this girl passed out on the ships deck, aside from being an embarrassing situation to be found in, who knows what would have happened to her, but besides that, she really didn't know why she'd done all this... it'd just felt like the right thing to do.
That horrible voice in Ilia's head returned, chiming in, Since when do you know anything about what's 'right'?
For some reason however, the words didn't cut nearly as deep this time. The chameleon girl sipped her tea thoughtfully, could it be she actually felt good about something she'd done for once? Maybe even a little proud of herself?
Hmm, perish the thought, Ilia said internally with a wry smile.
The lizard girl took another sip of her warm beverage, it was just as good as she remembered it was. The sweet aroma, combined with all the running around she'd done, made Ilia's eyelids feel heavy for the first time in weeks. She should probably rest for a bit, tomorrow promised to be a big day after all, she couldn't afford to-
A noise cut off Ilia's train of thought. As the rabbit girl in front of her finally seemed to succumb to sleep, her mouth had parted slightly and now she was... snoring? It wasn't loud or disturbing, but it definitely didn't fit the image Ilia had established for the scrawny faunus, though it wasn't the first time she'd misjudged this girl. The spotted teen continued to stare at the lightly snoring rabbit girl in surprise, then she let out a quiet laugh before yawning and setting her now empty cup down on the nightstand with the thermos.
"Just full of surprises, aren't you?" Ilia whispered to herself, as she settled into the chair, taking one last look at the rabbit faunus' long, tantalizing soft looking ears as her eyes drifted shut.
A low buzzing made Ilia's eyes crack open, then after a few quick blinks, she was awake. The sound was coming from her scroll, still tucked away in her pocket, as it vibrated loudly. The tired faunus yawned and stretched her stiff limbs, making her arms and neck crack satisfyingly. She looked to her bed and saw the rabbit faunus still asleep, not at all perturbed by the buzzing device, as a ray of sunlight shined in through the window onto her-
Sunlight?!
Ilia practically tore her scroll out of her pocket to check the time. Five hours? she'd been asleep for five hours!? That was by far the most she'd managed to sleep all week long, hell it was the most she'd slept in a long while now. Normally the lizard girl would be thrilled by this, but she was supposed to meet up with the Belladonna's for a briefing on the plan for Haven about thirty minutes ago! Sure enough, the buzzing from the reptilian girls scroll had been the several missed calls and texts she'd received from Blake wondering where she was.
Ilia scrambled out of the chair and rushed to leave the room, but then stopped and looked back at the still sleeping faunus. She couldn't just leave her there, but she didn't necessarily want to wake her either. The frazzled faunus scanned the room, finally settling on a pad of paper and a pen on the small desk across from her bed. She zipped over and started writing a note, just a little something to set the rabbit girls mind at ease in case she woke up and no one was here to explain things to her. However, finding the right words seemed to be harder than the lizard faunus had expected.
Good morning- Nope, too energetic. Ilia ripped the paper off the pad, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the small waste bin next to the desk, starting over on the next piece of paper.
Hello- No. Too impersonal. *rip* *crumple* *trash*
Greetings!- Ugh. No. *rip* *crumple* *trash*
Okay, let's skip the greeting part.
How did you sleep?- Gods, that's lame. *rip* *crumple* *trash*
So, you're probably wondering how you got in this situation, well it all started- Wow. That couldn't sound creepier. *rip* *crumple* *trash*
After a few more failed starts to her message, Ilia checked her scroll again, now she was thirty-five minutes late, the chameleon faunus had to stifle back a groan. Why was she making such a big deal about all this? It was just a note, it didn't have to be a ballad or anything, just write something already! So the lizard girl grit her teeth and just wrote out the first thing that came to mind, not even bothering with torturing herself by rereading it as she set it under the thermos and then bolted out of the room. The note read;
You weren't feeling well.
I didn't know your room number, so I brought you to mine.
Stay as long as you need to.
There's some tea in the thermos, it'll help.
I hope you feel better,
Ilia
Twenty minutes later, Carmella was reading and rereading the note. It said it was from 'Ilia', did they mean THAT Ilia? The one she'd trained with? Well, "with" was a bit of a stretch. Ever since they'd made eye contact in the courtyard just over a week ago, the pony-tailed girl had seemed to be very wary of being around the rabbit faunus, Carmella would almost go so far as to say she'd been avoiding her. It didn't necessarily bother Carm, or at least she didn't take it personally, it just meant Ilia wasn't interested in her, and there was nothing wrong with that. Plenty of girls had turned her down before, even a few guys had, it wasn't anything new to the rabbit faunus. This new development however, had Carmella completely baffled.
The caramel haired girl eyed the thermos warily, not overly keen on the idea of accepting unlabeled, open drinks from strangers. Then again, if Ilia had any nefarious intentions, wouldn't she have acted on them in the time Carm was asleep? With this reasoning, the rabbit faunus undid the lid of the thermos and immediately a warm, refreshing, and slightly familiar aroma filled Carmella's nostrils.
Ohhh... that smells amaaaaaaazing. The rabbit girl poured the tea into the convenient cup next to the note. It looked okay, or at least like normal tea, she supposed... she lifted the cup and gave it another series of curious sniffs, before taking a small, cautious sip. It tasted even better than it smelled. Carmella quickly downed the entire cup, she felt refreshed and awake now, a far contrast from the night before, and then she hopped out of bed with a smile on her face. The rabbit girl looked over the note once more before pocketing it and leaving the room, intending to track down Ilia to thank her for her kindness.
Carmella moved through the halls with a spring in her step. The ship had finally made it to calm waters as it began its final approach to Anima, so she didn't feel nearly as nauseous as she moved about the Pride. She didn't really know where to start looking for the illusive faunus, but figured she still had a few hours before they arrived in port for her to check the ship over.
The chipper faunus turned a corner and almost ran face first into a familiar giant faunus' orange t-shirt. "Mata?"
"Carm! There you are!" the ram faunus said in relief. "I went to wake you this morning, but your bed was empty. Well, not empty per se. There was definitely... something... in it," he said with a shudder.
"Oh... right," Carm replied apologetically, "sorry you had to see that, it was kind of a rough night for me. Um... anyway," she said desperately trying to change the subject, "have you seen Ilia anywhere?"
There was a flash of surprise on Mata's face. "Ilia? W-why are you looking for her?" he said with a slightly worried expression.
Carm raised an eyebrow at this. "Um... I just wanted to talk to her is all, why do you ask?"
"It's uhh... nothing. It's nothing... I mean, it's probably nothing..." the ram faunus stammered out.
"Mata, you just said the word 'nothing' three times in one sentence, so it's obvious 'something' is wrong. Why do you care if I want to talk to Ilia?"
The tall faunus looked uncomfortable for a moment, sighing as he looked over his massive shoulders to make sure the two of them were alone in the hall. "I just... look, you know me, Carm, I'm not the type to listen to or spread gossip, but..." Carmella cocked her head to the side, her long rabbit ears bouncing as she did. "Last night, the people I'm rooming with were talking before bed, and Ilia's name came up, they said she..." Mata trailed off again in one last ditch effort to abandon the topic.
Carmella was having none of that however. "Mata, just tell me."
The big faunus sighed again, his discomfort at talking about someone behind there back like this was apparent now. "Okay, so... how much do you really know about Ilia? Or rather, did you hear about what she tried to do to the Belladonna family?"
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A/N- And that's all you get this time, kiddo's. Hope you enjoyed! Maybe review? Four out of five dentists agree it helps make my brain write words better... well, faster anyway.
Next time- The Battle of Haven!
See you then!