After dropping off the reckless band of misfits on the south east side of Solitas, the group of Faunus refilled the power supply of the ship before heading back down towards Anima to sail around it and head to Menagerie. Team MACE and Baren are now all sitting around a campfire as the bitter cold rushed around them.
"So you're telling me... you could have stopped that Grimm at ANY point but instead you waited until we were obviously beaten to step in?" Kris glared, sitting in front of the fire with her arms out. The snow around them having melted away from the flames to give the group a place to sit.
Baren glanced over at her, giving a small shrug while resting her arm over her leg. "I prefer not to step in unless I have to. It's not my business." She looked away and into the flames.
"You..." The redhead's eyebrow twitched. "You really irritate me. You really fu-"
"Kris!" Elise shot her a glare. Her arms wrapped around herself as she softly shivered.
She groaned back, rolling her eyes. "Fine. She really freaking irritates me."
"I try my best." The pinkette flashed a grin and then softly chuckled as she heard a raging and aggravated scream coming from the young girl.
Rolling her eyes, Kagami couldn't help but smile slightly. She then blinked, glancing at Cheyenne who seemed to be handling the cold the worst out of all of them. She slowly exhaled, reaching her arms behind her head before pulling off her hoodie. "Here." She flashed a smile as she held it out. "It's special, remember? Keeps you warm in the cold and cool in the blazing heat."
Shivering, the Faunus glanced over before very faintly smiling. "Are you s-sure?" She stuttered slightly while hesitantly reaching out for it."
"Positive." She exhaled again, her breath visible. Watching her friend put on her hoodie, she slowly brought her knees closer towards her chest while hugging them.
Eyeing her, Baren let out a scoff while rolling her eyes.
A few seconds later, the jadette jumped slightly as a pink leather jacket was placed over her shoulders. She blinked, glancing up and behind her to see her mentor staring down at her.
"You'll catch a cold." She mumbled, sitting back down beside her. Her movements calm and easy. She crossed her legs, resting her arm across her chest as she went back to staring at the dancing orange flames.
Pulling the green sleeves over her hands, Cheyenne glanced around at her friends before her brow furrowed as she slowly glanced down. She inhaled slowly, her body once again at a more comfortable temperature. Thinking quietly to herself, she took a deep breath before looking over. "Hey, Baren?" She quietly asked with a small gulp.
"Hm?" The pinkette glanced over with a raised eyebrow. "What?" She asked bluntly.
A chill rushed down the Faunus' spine despite not being cold anymore. She swallowed, shifting around slightly. "Can you... can you help me with something?"
Now fully looking at her, she tilted her head with an intrigued expression. "With what?" A small smile slowly started to form.
As Kagami, Kris and Elise remained by the fire, Cheyenne and Baren both made their way deeper into the freezing cold and icy tundra. The Faunus firmly gripping her rifle as she scanned the area around them while the old warrior calmly walked beside her.
Making their way between a few large trees, Cheyenne glanced back for a moment before taking a deep breath. Looking back ahead, she pulled her rifle closer. "Hey, Baren..." She quietly spoke.
Smirking, she eyed her. "You know, you don't have to be so awkward about asking me something." She let out a faint chuckle.
"I-I know but... like..." She sighed heavily while slouching forward a bit. "When we were fighting the Feilong, or well after you defeated it," She looked back at her and took a deep breath. "Why did you have Kagami kneel and say what she did wrong?"
The pinkette smiled, letting out a huff of air through her nose. "You've never been trained under someone else's guidance, have you?"
"Not exactly." She reached up to rub the back of her head with a sigh. "I was rescued by a group of Faunus extremist from a Faunus slave trade system and... sort of was forced to learn to fight by watching them to survive. So... yeah." She gave a small shrug.
She let out a soft chuckle, grinning as she glanced across the cold white tundra. "That honestly explains a lot. The three of you lack a lot of discipline in your combat. Well, the short redhead seems to have a little but still lacks proper training and control in general so it holds her back."
"Well Kris did go to a combat school. Though she never finished... and forced her way into Beacon Academy which I still don't understand how that was allowed." She blinked a few times before shaking her head. "And then Elise grew up hunting so fending off Grimm was a must learn."
"And that explains her reckless and adventurous nature." She shook her head a bit while letting her left arm fall to the side. "All of you could use a lot of work. Even Kagami still has much to learn. Really." She smiled to herself at distant memories. "You never stop learning."
"Wait." Cheyenne huffed, stepping slightly in front of her while looking up. "You didn't answer me though. Why did you make Kagami kneel?"
The old warrior chuckled, shaking her head. "You don't read between lines very well." She eyed the green hoodie the Faunus wore before holding out her arm as she stretched her back. "Kagami hates three things more than anything. One is standing down when she finds something unjust. The second is admitting she's unable to do something. Though who doesn't hate that? And the third thing," She exhaled, resting her arm across her chest. "She hates submitting herself to others. By having her to kneel and acknowledge that she has made a mistake, it teaches her humility. That is the single most important thing anyone could learn before becoming a Huntress. A very smart young girl once told me the first thing you must do is be honest with yourself."
The Faunus blinked slowly, her brow furrowing slightly as she glanced down at her feet.
Baren eyed her, tilting her head slightly. "Is there something you need to be honest to yourself with?" She softly asked.
"I'm not sure." She exhaled, slouching a little. "Sometimes I feel like I don't do enough. All I have is my rifle. All I do is shoot things. I guess... I feel useless sometimes. Like with the Feilong. All I could do was shoot at it. Kagami didn't have her aura yet she and Kris still attacked it head on. Even Elise has a baton, or well a new baton now, that she uses from time to time in close combat. It's not very effective to whack someone with a rifle..." She trailed off.
"Hmm." Baren let out a quiet sound, nodding a bit. Quietly thinking to herself, she paused for a moment as her head shot to the side. She quickly held out her arm, stopping Cheyenne in place. She motioned with her head, looking over to spot a large light brown wolf trudging through the snow. "There's one." She whispered as the Faunus raised her weapon.
"Hold on." As the sun set over the white landscape, Elise stood in front of Cheyenne who was sitting on a knocked over tree. With her hands pressed up against each other, she placed them against her face before pointing with both hands towards her friend. "Hold. On. So you went hunting and asked someone else to help you rather than YOUR FRIEND who is an actual HUNTER and went HUNTING with her family all the time?!"
"Well... maybe." The Faunus mumbled quietly to herself, keeping her gaze away from the brunet as she carefully cleaned the pelt of the brown wolf. "Kind of I guess..." She bit her lip before lowering her head as she scratched at her antlers. "...yeah..."
Her eye twitched slightly as she glared. She went to speak only to let out a very quiet scream.
Letting out a low chuckle, Baren glanced back at the two as she cooked a chunk of meat on a stick over the burning flames. "She just wanted to spend time with me." She mumbled while looking over towards the redhead sitting by the fire.
"I'm not eating that." Kris half glared with a low growl.
Rolling her eyes, she exhaled through her nose. "I know." She shook her head.
Quietly sitting by herself, Kagami thought to herself while pulling Baren's pink leather jacket tighter around her. Breathing out, she saw her breath in the cold air. Placing her hands in her lap, she inhaled a bit while closing her eyes with a soft sigh.
Later on as night, as darkness descended upon the group, Elise quickly devoured the large chunk of meat she was handed while sitting by the fire with her friends. Watching her, Kagami smiled a bit while taking smaller bites. Kris sat with crossed arms, glaring coldly into the fire. Raising an eyebrow, Baren held onto a small piece while eyeing the Faunus. "You should stop and come eat."
"I know, I know, but I'm almost done." Cheyenne softly exhaled, biting her lip as she kept messing around with the fur pelt. "Just a little more..." As the old warrior raised an eyebrow, she watched as the Faunus worked faster. After a few minutes, she finally exhaled while leaning back. "There. Done."
"Done with what?" Kagami glanced over towards her.
"Well, basically done." She reached down, grabbing the pelt from the head of the wolf as she pulled it over as a hood for herself. "These are for you." She held out the pelt from the legs which were in two scarf-like strips. "You can use these to wrap around your arms. It should help. Wait! Do you want your hoodie back?"
Shaking her head, the jadette smiled while taking the wolf fur. "Keep it. You seem more comfortable with it on."
"If you're sure..." She trailed off a little before grabbing two vest-like pieces of fur with buttons made from bone. "These are for you two." She tossed one to Elise.
The young farm girl blinked, her expression fading as she stared back at her friend. "Again. You're not giving the HUNTER the literal WOLF PELT HOOD you have." Her eyebrow twitched as her head tilted.
Cheyenne chuckled, awkwardly smiling. "Yeah well... my ears get cold easily."
"You have Kagami's hoodie!" Elise shouted, flailing her arms rapidly. "Just pull that hood up! That way I could have the wolf hood!"
"Okay well..." She trailed off a little before chuckling more. "I just like it. It's cool. And pretty. And mine." She smiled more.
The brunet's brow twitched again before she let out another quiet scream. With a huff of air, she slid her flannel shirt off and put the fur pelt on before pulling her flanel back on. "Thank you though..." She grumbled with a pout as she looked away.
Cheyenne sighed back, holding out the other pelt towards Kris. "Come on. Put it under your jacket. It'll keep you warmer." Seeing the redhead not even look towards her, she sighed again while scooting closer. "None of it went to waste. I promise. I'm even going to use the rest of the bones for something. Okay?"
Sighing, Kris slouched forward a bit, Her crossed arms falling to her lap as she looked over. "Do you swear?" Her voice was low and quiet.
"Yes." She held out the vest closer towards her.
After several seconds, the young girl finally sighed while reaching out and grabbing it. "As long as you mean it..."
"I do. I wouldn't have it any other way. We just needed warmer clothing and something to eat. There... wasn't any berries." She trailed off a little. "It's way too cold for that."
"It's okay. Don't worry. Sometimes my mother wouldn't even buy vegetarian food and I'd go hungry for a few days" She smiled while putting the pelt on. She ran her fingers through the fur, smiling slightly. "It is really soft." Her voice softened.
Cheyenne smiled a little more before quickly raising a hand. "Oh! There's one last thing. I've been working on them since we left Mistral!" She slid her right hand into her pocket.
"Is it another thing that's going to make me go insane?" Elise looked over while tilting her head to the side. "Hmmm?"
"No, no. It's nothing like that." She smiled more, pulling out several handmade friendship bracelets with stone bead on each of them. "I made us these."
Kagami blinked, staring at her for a moment while wrapping her arms up. "They're each different colors? Is there a reason?"
"Yep." The Faunus gave a nod. "This one is for you. I used a light green string and a jade bead. Jade stones represent purity and protection. I thought it suited you." She handed her leader the bracelet. As she put it on her left arm, she looked over towards Kris. "Then I used a red string for you with a cuprite bead. Cuprite stones represent feminine power and the earth goddess." Giving it to her, she smiled as the redhead put it on her right arm. "And for you I used a dark green string with a green aventurine bead. Green aventurine stones represent the heart and a positive well being." As she handed the farm girl the bracelet, she held up another. "And then myself I used a dark brown string with a tigers eye bead. Tigers eye stones represent the release of fear and anxiety." She tied hers on her right arm as did Elise.
"These are pretty cute." Kris grinned at hers. Her eyes examined the stone bead that pressed up against her wrist.
"And meaningful." Kagami added with a smile as she too looked at her friendship bracelet.
Sighing, Elise couldn't help but smile as she leaned back to relax a little. "This still doesn't excuse the fact I'm angry with you."
Chuckling, she grinned. "I know. You're welcome." She smiled more before glancing over at the old warrior staring into the fire. She took a deep breath, standing up and walking over beside her. "This one is for you." She knelt down beside her. "It's made with pink string and a rhodonite bead. Rhodonite stones represent compassion and a healer for emotional wounds of the past." She held up the bracelet.
Eyeing her, Baren raised an eyebrow before exhaling with a small smile as she held out her left arm. "If you must." She smiled a little more.
The Faunus smiled back, tying it on the pinkette's arm. "Do you like it?"
She turned to look at her, flashing her teeth with a smile before she shook her head and looked back into the fire. "It's getting late. You four should try to sleep."
"You like it." Cheyenne pulled away, getting back up and going back to her seat.
She glanced at the four girls as they began to talk again. She couldn't help but try to hide her soft smile as she rested her arm in her lap. She looked away from the flames, glancing down at the light pink spherical stone pressing against her wrist. She exhaled, her smile still growing as she closed her eyes for a moment.
As the broken moon rose and shined light across the cold and icy tundra, Baren opened her eyes as she looked over at the group of girls as Kagami finally fell asleep. She waited several minutes before sighing as she slowly stood up. Stretching out her arm and spine, she began to grin. "Alright girls. Let's get to work on making each of you better."