RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late Monty Oum.
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RWBY: Destiny of Remnant
Chapter 33: Monkey Business
Out of the desert came the small engine that belonged to the Allcroft family, it arrived into the average sized city known as Hondyama that was one of the many towns that acted as an oasis in the incredibly large desert of the Kingdom of Vacuo. It was by no means as major city but to any traveler who had been wandering the desert it was a godsend. It was a modest looking town made up of a few hundred buildings with homes, businesses, offices, a school, a hospital, storage facilities, restaurants, stores, a police headquarters, and other such things. It was far from perfect, or even important, but to the twelve hundred people who lived there it was home. It wasn't a totally barren location, as many palm trees dotted the town along with bushes and many plants that helped the place look more alive, along with a man made lake and canal area. As they entered the town they drove by a sand dune where children, both human and Faunus, played happily together, a sight that made Blake smile.
"Cute aren't they?" Yang asked as Ruby and Penny waved to the kids from the window who cheerfully returned the waves as Tom blew his horn at them.
Blake nodded, "It makes me wish I had someone like you and Ruby in my childhood."
Yang didn't reply vocally, she just returned her partner's smile before asking "So what are you gonna tell Sun's mom?"
Blake looked at her partner understandingly; if Sun was anything like his family then they hated the White Fang too but there was the possibility that they might not be as understanding as Sun was, add to that the stress this mission was bringing her in general like if Claudandus would be alive when they got there or if she'd run into Adam it all made the Cat Faunus rather nervous. "Sun will stand up for me, even if his mother doesn't approve he won't leave me. Besides I still have you and others." Blake said.
"You got that right." Yang confirmed with a grin.
They arrived into town and made it to Hondyama's small station where Tom stopped the engine right at the platform for them. "Okay, stop number one for Hondyama. It'll take about four or five hours for our cargo to be unloaded so we'll be back to pick you up around here." he said into the PA.
"Understood kid. Thanks for the ride so far." Qrow said as he opened up the door to get out, just as Sun ran out of the second coach, still freshly wet from his shower.
"Well let's not wait around, let's go!" the energetic Monkey Faunus erged eagerly.
"Uh, Sun... you're still kinda wet." Ruby pointed out.
"Trust me, I'll dry off once we get outside. One thing you have to know about this place is that it is hot." he told her.
"Tell me about it." grunted Qrow as he pulled off his jacket to cool off from the hot sun.
As everyone got off the train the Allcroft family, with Clara going to sleep in the bed Ruby, Weiss, and Penny had been sleeping in, bid their passengers goodbye for the time being and set off to unload their cargo in the train yards on the other side of town.
It turns out that Sun had not been kidding about the heat, it was positively cooking outside. For Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and others who had never been in a desert ecosystem it was absolute murder. Most of the kids decided to follow Qrow's example and take off their outerwear with Weiss, Blake, and Neptune removing their jackets while Yang and Coco removed their vests.
"Ugh! I immediately regret coming to this part of Remnant." Ruby groaned as she began fanning herself.
"Warned ya." the drying Sun remarked as Winter walked ahead, seemingly unaffected by the heat.
"How are you not burning like the rest of us?" Weiss asked her sister, not noticing the look Ruby gave her for a few seconds.
"I am hot but I've been to places like this before and have built a tolerance to it like Mr. Wukong." Winter explained as she eyed the town while disembarking from the platform and onto the ground. From their position many people could be seen going about their daily lives, working, talking with friends, or rushing to get somewhere. Most of these people seemed to be Faunus but most took no notice of them, although they did draw the odd look due to their appearances and weapons.
A duo of teenage girls dressed in skirts and cropped tank tops that showed off their midriffs and a generous amount of skin walked by them. The human girl leaned next to her Faunus companion with a fluffy squirrel tail coming out her skirt and whispered "Tourists, look at 'em sweat."
"Heh, the desert wasn't a hint that it was gonna be hot?" the Faunus girl said before shooting a flirty look to Neptune and Yatsuhashi.
Velvet and Team RWBY glared at the passing girls before Coco said to her Faunus teammate "Eh, wouldn't hurt to get some clothes while we're here, I mean this mission might call for some disguises after all."
"Not a bad idea, Miss Adel. If we're going to pull this off we will need to blend in the locals." Winter agreed.
"So Winter, uh... Specialist Schnee, can I ask you a question?" Ruby inquired.
"Go ahead Miss Rose." Winter said as Sun came to the head of the group and led them further into town past a man who was dusting off a sidewalk with a broom.
"How exactly did you and Uncle Qrow settle out the whole payment issue?" Ruby asked.
"Simple: I will pay half and Qrow, and by that extension Ozpin, will pay for the other. The Atlas Military will also give Mr. Allcroft a little bonus for transporting us, consider it a public service. And Qrow will be paying me back one way or the other." Winter stated with a small smile which Ruby returned.
"Okay come on guys, once I introduce you to my family I can show you around town." Sun urged as he led them into town.
The present members of Team Beacon followed Sun into the town, but little did they know that they were being watched by someone up above. On the roof of one of the nearby buildings a Coyote Faunus dropped what he was working on and silently observed the group head into the city under a pedestrian bridge. He took out a pair of binoculars to get a better look at Blake and the others.
"Black hair, yellow eyes, pale skin, bow, that's her alright. Let's get a look at those others. Silver eyes, red and black, oh yeah that's that Rose girl. Those two are Schnees, no doubt about that. Blonde hair, right arm has been replaced with a robotic prosthetic, big boobs. That's them, oh hot damn that's them! Time to make an early report." the Coyote whispered quietly to himself.
He jumped off the roof and landed on his feet and hands in the back alley before rushing off to the place he called home. After the Fall of Vale and the disaster at the Vytal Festival many Faunus around Remnant either decided to utterly and vehemently renounce the actions of the White Fang and other such groups but others were convinced join up to overthrow the humans and get payback for what had happened in the past. While many White Fang supporters had left to join up a few decided that they weren't ready for action so stayed behind, but acted as spies and recruitment agents. Once Adam's spies learned what town Sun came from he quickly reached an interested party who would be willing to act as a spy for them. They had been put out to watch for them after Adam told them that the team, along with several others, would arrive somewhere in Vacuo soon and it looks like the leader of the Fang was proven correct.
The White Fang agent ran to his home, a small building that had once been a storage shed, and closed the door behind him. He walked over to his computer and quickly opened up a line to the White Fang but made sure it was secured first.
"Come in White Fang communications, I repeat; come in White Fang communications! This is Wilder from Hondyama. I have spotted high priority targets the high command will be very interested in." he said urgently.
It wasn't long before a female voice answered him "This is White Fang Headquarters, speak Agent Wilder."
"I have spotted several targets that I know for a fact Commander Taurus is interested in; Team RWBY." he said
"What?! Please hold, I'll send for Commander Taurus right away!" the female communications officer said quickly.
Adam sat in his dark room, alone as always. He sat on the floor without a shirt and if anyone else were in the room they could see the scars of battles long over marking his body as he held up a picture of Team RWBY from the newspaper taken after the Battle of Haven. It had the entire team standing together with Yang's robotic arm stretching out to her little sister at the opposite end of the small line with Ruby bearing a ridiculously happy smile with a bit of sadness in her eyes, Weiss trying to look prim and proper but failing to hide a small smile, Blake look serene and content to be back with her friends while Yang had a cocky smirk and was winking at the camera.
Adam snarled quietly as he took out a knife and stabbed it into the picture, right into Yang's robotic arm. "I'll just have to take it off again, you human slut. Maybe if I cut off both arms you'll be put in your place." he growled as he stabbed into picture Yang's other arm. He stabbed the knife twice into picture Ruby's head, right into the eyes. "These eyes are a threat? Not if I get a hold of you."
Next he stabbed picture Weiss in the neck, decapitating it. "You will pay for your family's sins you spoiled little brat." he muttered darkly as he cut Blake out of the picture entirely and held the small fragment of paper close to his face. "You said you understood. You said you loved me... you gave me hope and then left me. You were supposed to understand... I'll make you understand!" he yelled as he ripped the small paper Blake apart.
He let the shreds of paper fall to the floor as he brought the knife to his bare arm and cut himself "You will rue the day you betrayed me, my love. I will make you mine again." he said darkly as his aura healed the cut. "Some scars heal, some don't." Adam remarked as he absentmindedly pressed his hand against his mask. "But the scars I will give to you, my love, will never go away."
There was a knock at the door, "Commander Taurus! We have received word from our lookout in Hondyama, the traitor Belladonna and her team have been spotted!" cried the voice of a soldier.
Adam bolted up and grabbed his robe. "I'm coming." he said as he made his way to the door.
A few minutes later he arrived at the main room and said "I want details now."
"Well sir," the female communications officer began, "Lookout Wilder spotted most of Team Beacon in his town, Hondyama and if you remember that place is the hometown of Sun Wukong."
Adam nodded and asked "Are they all there?"
"No, he noted that Team JNPR was missing and that Teams SSSN and CFVY were both missing one member each but they're accompanied by two adults; one of which we believe to be Specialist Winter Schnee." she reported.
"Well we cannot simply squander an opportunity such as this. Prepare a strike force and the fastest ship we have, I want to be in that town as soon as possible. Also, contact the Elite Guard, I want them in on this just in case these elders prove to be more of a challenge." he ordered.
"Right away sir. Should I contact Black or Sustrai?" she asked.
Adam considered it but answered "Not just yet. I want to show them we can capture these fools without their help. Have those Grimm Knights they gave us transported to the ship, I want as much firepower as possible. As for our spotter in Hondyama, have him sneak around Wukong's house since that is where they are most likely to go. Order him to keep an eye on them."
"As you wish sir." the officer said with a bow.
Adam set off to the hangar, clenching his fist as he walked at a fast pace. "I'm coming for you Blake." he whispered to himself.
A few minutes later on the Elite Guard's ship Jinty received the message. "Yo boss! We just got word from headquarters! Belladonna and her team have been spotted in Hondyama and Adam is on his way there now, he wants us there as backup." he reported.
Razor smirked and said "More likely to pull his ass out of the fire if things go wrong. Still, I imagine by the end of the day we'll have that traitor in chains. Change course and take us to Hondyama!"
At a modest sized house in a relatively nice neighborhood in Hondyama a Monkey Faunus woman in her late forties stood in front of the sink washing dishes as she leaned over to watch the news on TV. Her name was Gina Wukong and despite her age and the fact that she had given birth to two children she could still be seen as an attractive woman, with short blonde hair, a thin body, and a tail hanging out of her pants.
She watched the news with rapt attention as the newsman described what had happened in a small village in upper Vacuo. "And fortunately, despite the viciousness of this Grimm attack and some injuries no lives were lost. It is unknown who this Huntsman or Huntress was as they did not stick around at all. According to several witnesses they appeared out of nowhere on a motorcycle and quickly went to work slaughtering the Grimm and protecting this small village with what were described as two unusual swords that cut through a group of King Taijitu like butter. Apparently as soon as the last Grimm fell to his blades he vanished. No one could get a clear look at this warrior but a majority agree that the mysterious Hunter was male. The villages' local Huntsman was injured early in the attack but was saved by the stranger, any comment on it sir?" the newsman asked a middle aged, muscular Huntsman.
"I don't know who saved me or my village but I want to thank them. You saved a lot of innocent lives that could have been lost today, I don't care if you're human, Faunus, or a spirit; you have my gratitude for your actions." the man said.
The reported nodded before looking to the camera and saying "We'll keep our viewers informed as this story develops, back to you Sarah."
Gina returned her attention to washing her dishes before there was a knock at the front door. She sighed and took off her apron and gloves before rushing to the front.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" she called, "I was doing the dishes and I..." she opened the door only to be greeted by the sight of her son's cocky smile and bright eyes.
"Hey mom, sorry to bother you but we were in town and thought we'd drop in." he said as he gestured to the large group behind him.
Neptune, Scarlet, Ruby, and Yang all said "Hi." while Qrow gave a lazy little wave and Yatsuhashi simply bowed in respect.
"What's up?" Coco greeted.
"Salutations!" Penny said cheerfully.
"Greetings Mrs. Wukong." Winter said with a respectful nod.
"Um, hello ma'am." Blake said nervously.
Gina cheered as she leapt forward and captured her son in a powerful hug. "Ah! Sunny!" she cheered.
"Whoa! Go a little easy on me mom!" he cried.
"Sunny, huh?" Yang teased.
"Don't start." he deadpanned as he returned his mom's hug.
"Why didn't you tell me you were dropping by?!" she asked.
"I wanted to surprise you." he said with a grin.
"Oh you truly are your father's son. Well don't just stand there! Come in everyone." she invited, beckoning them inside.
Once everyone was inside she said "I'm sorry if it's a bit messy, I wasn't expecting company."
"Looks fine to me." Ruby said at the modest living room area.
"She's just like that, always worried about appearances." Sun said as he gestured to Neptune and Scarlet. "Mom, I'd like you to meet two of my teammates in the flesh."
"Neptune! Scarlet! Nice to finally meet you two face to face." she said as she hugged Sun's partner.
"Um, nice to finally meet you too, Mrs. Wukong." Neptune said while Winter, Weiss, and Team C_VY began to take seats around the living room.
"She's a hugger, sorry about the lack of warning." Sun said to Neptune before he went about introducing everyone to his mother, with Qrow giving her a flirtatious look and click of his tounge and teeth only to get glares from his nieces, Winter, and a death glare from Sun himself.
"And last but not least, this is the Blake I've told you so much about." he said nervously.
"Hello Mrs. Wukong, I suppose that I am your son's girlfriend." Blake said meekly. Deep down she was incredibly nervous about this, while it was obvious that Sun's mom wouldn't be too happy to know her son was dating an ex-member of the White Fang, and a high ranking one at that, she couldn't help but worry if the mother before her judged her to be good enough.
"So you're the girl Sun keeps going on about." Gina said as she sized Blake up analytically before giving her a kind smile and assing "You're just as beautiful as he said you were."
Blake couldn't help but smile before saying "Thank you, your son has been a good friend and has helped me out quite a lot since I met him."
"He's told me about some of your little... misadventures together. It gets me worried sick but he was always one to help someone out." Gina said as she placed a friendly hand on Blake's shoulder.
"So where's your little sister you mentioned?" Yang asked.
Sun perked up and asked "Hey, where is the little squirt? Is she out with her friends?"
"No, I think Haulan is in her room playing." his mom answered, "Go check, I know she'll be happy to see you."
Sun nodded and went off to fetch his sister while Gina said "I'm sorry to ask, but will you be staying for long? I don't think we can accommodate everyone unless you've brought sleeping bags."
"Don't worry Mrs. Wukong, we will only be here for a few hours, our train needed to stop to unload its cargo before it can take us the rest of the way on our journey and we will be leaving in a few hours so your son was insistent on dropping by for a visit while we were here." Winter explained.
"That's my boy." Gina said proudly with a smile, "He's been wanting to introduce me to his friends for a while now, he told me about Team Beacon being formed and that he was going on a mission but he didn't tell me much and I can't help but notice some of your are missing like Sage and those kids from Team JNPR."
"They had to stay at Beacon to train, besides Sage and my partner Fox got injured while we were taking back Beacon so they had to stay behind with them anyway." Coco elaborated.
"I see." Gina said before turning to Blake. "Well Miss Belladonna I'm looking forward to getting to know you, Sun hasn't told me much about your history but he has told me a lot about what you are like."
This made Blake a little nervous, obviously Sun didn't want to bring up her White Fang past to his mother, since she most likely hated them like her son did, but she decided to speak up anyway; "Well my history hasn't exactly been the most spotless one, I have made a lot of mistakes in the past."
"We all have dear." Gina said comfortingly.
Meanwhile in another part of the house Sun stood in front of the sticker covered door that led to his little sister's room. He knocked on the door and said "Hey squirt, guess who?"
There was no answer.
Sun sighed as he twisted the knob and opened the door. He stepped inside and said "You better not have snuck off again because mom..."
All of a sudden a weight fell from the ceiling and landed on his back, knocking him to the ground.
"Gotcha!" cheered a nine year old Faunus girl with bright blonde hair, brown eyes, and a wildly swinging monkey tail as Sun fell to the ground with her on his back. She slid down his back until she was sitting on his head where she said "You never even saw me coming, bro."
"No I did not." Sun admitted to his little sister, who had used her tail to hang on to the air vent in the ceiling.
"I saw you and those others approaching the house so I decided to set up another one of my deadly pounces!" Haulan explained.
"Deadly is right..." Sun murmured before he threw himself around and pinned his little sister to the ground. "You're gonna break my back one day. Miss me?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, yeah I missed you." Haulan confessed before she wrapped her arms around Sun's torso in a hug. "I'm happy you're home big brother."
"Knew it, and no picking pockets, okay? I know you like to do that but these guys won't be so happy with it, okay?" he warned.
"Alright." she said as let her up.
"So, have you managed to swipe any good stuff?" he asked.
"You know it." she answered with a grin.
Back in the living room Gina said "Well, I must say I never expected to have a Schnee in my home, let alone two."
"Don't threat, we do not hold grudges against your species like other members of our family." Winter assured her.
"No, we're above that." Weiss voiced firmly.
"I had a feeling you were, what with having three Faunus as friends and I'm happy to have you in my home. The Wukong family was always one that fought for equality, no humans or Faunus pushing themselves above others, it's no real surprise to me that Sun became a Hunter, he was always getting into fights at school, usually it was because he was stepping up for the helpless be they human or Faunus so it was obvious he would make a career out of it, at least he can demolish Grimm and not get in trouble for it."
Sun and Haulan made their way back to the living room where Sun announced "Guys, this is my little sister Haulan. Watch out for her, she's kind of a pick pocket."
"I learned it from you! ...Hi." she said to the group who all returned the greeting.
"Aw, she's so cute! She looks like a younger version of me!" Yang cooed.
"Don't call me cute." Haulan muttered before looking to Blake "So that's your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, she's..."
"She's kinda pretty, I like her hair. Wish mine wasn't so bright." Haulan lamented.
Blake smiled while Yang pouted, muttering "Blondes for life."
"Agreed, you should be a little prouder of your hair sweetie." Gina said before continuing with "So Sun told me you're all off on a mission, what is it exactly?"
Sun was about to say something before Winter quickly said "I'm afraid that is classified for the time being, the fewer people know the specific details of our appointed task the better, I'm afraid."
"Oh, well I understand. Need to know only?" Gina guessed while Haulan began talking with Ruby and Penny, the former of whom was looking at Weiss again.
"Affirmative." Winter stated as she ignored the roll of Qrow's eyes. Winter had made sure that everyone knew they couldn't let anyone know of the mission until it was over, if they were going to pull this off successful then they'd have to be secretive and despite his attitude Qrow knew this as well.
Winter and Qrow had discussed this mission to detail, the plan was to infiltrate the prison where Claudandus was being kept one way or another. While she questioned the worth of this mission at first it was quickly pointed out to her that not only could saving Claudandus from the White Fang help discredit them there was the possibility that saving him would turn some of their number against Adam, plus if it was possible they could save a few more prisoners who could back up their claims and cause further dissension within the ranks of the Fang. And there was always the chance that the old cat had managed to learn a thing or two about the White Fang's plots, locations, numbers, etc... and would most certainly help them gain an advantage on the battlefront and encourage infighting amongst the Fang's numbers which would make them easier to defeat.
They had also discussed an extraction plan and backup plans. Once at the prison they would contact the Vacuo Rangers who would send airships for extraction and additional firepower. They had briefly considered using the Vacuo forces to rescue Claudanus but rejected it because the White Fang were too familiar with the patterns and fighting styles of the rangers and other military forces from Vacuo and the Fang knew the land far too well and could easily ambush the Atlas Military so it had been decided that a small group led by Winter and Qrow, both of whom had combat experience in areas such as the desert and the jungle and since Blake knew the White Fang intimately she would be a great asset in the battle, plus the collective experience of Team RWBY and SSSN's encounters with the Fang meant they had quite the combat advantage, plus having power-houses like Team CFVY didn't hurt either.
Backup would come in the form of not only Vacuo forces but that of the rest of Team Beacon, Professor Goodwitch, and a few airships from the Atlas Military, so one way or the other the White Fang were in for quite a fight so once the time came they'd take out the White Fang, or at the very least put a noticeable dent in their numbers and hopefully taking Adam Taurus down for his crimes.
Gina allowed them to put their hotter outer-wear on Sun's bed and afterwards they sat around and talked for about hour about various topics such as whatever antics Haulan had been getting herself into and what had been happening in town or the group telling Mrs. Wukong and Haulan of their adventures but eventually Neptune's curiosity got the better of him and he knew he wanted to discuss the fate of the absent member of the family; Mr. Wukong.
"So if you don't mind us asking, what happened to your husband? I'm sorry if it's a sensitive topic but Sun never really talks about him and he's only told us that he died in a car accident." Neptune asked.
Before Sun could say anything his mother put a comforting hand on his before nodding, telling him it was okay. Gina gave the bluenette a sad smile and said "Just a simple car accident. My beloved Cheng was crossing the street one evening on the way home from his job when a car's brakes failed and it sped forward and couldn't stop. Cheng always wanted to be a Huntsman but that blasted heart condition he had kept him from following that dream but he always tried to be a hero whenever he got the chance. He ran out and pushed a woman and her baby out of the way, taking their place with no time to get out of the way."
Her eyes began to water and Sun quickly hugged his mom.
"Oh way to go Vasilas." Neptune muttered to himself, feeling terrible for bringing this up.
"No, it's okay Neptune. I've shed many tears for my husband, I've gotten used to the pain. Anyway I suppose his death is what made Sun determined to become a Huntsman, he always wanted to do what his father never could and as I said he always did stick up for others." she finished proudly. As she finished her short tale she couldn't help but notice Blake's nervousness, being a mother she had gained a natural ability to sense when something was wrong with someone but before she could ask her son's girlfriend a question Coco spoke up.
"Hey Mrs. Wukong, you mind telling us where a decent clothes store is?" the leader of Team CFVY asked.
"Of course Coco, there's a rather nice one just a few blocks down by the market place. If your needed cooler clothes and some food for the road the prices are quite reasonable."
"Good to know, if its okay with you guys I think we should explore this town so we'll be familiar with the kinda things we'll be seeing while in Vacuo." Coco said.
"An excellent idea." Winter agreed before adding "If you don't mind us taking a brief trip for an hour or two? We'll be back as our train will not be ready for quite some time."
"Oh go ahead, I don't mind." Gina said kindly as Haulan got up from the floor where she sat in front of Ruby, she had mostly been talking to Penny, who fascinated her since she was a robot and Penny was more than happy to engage in conversation.
"Thank you for talking with me Haulan, it was very nice." Penny said.
"No problem, hey when you get back can you show me some tricks, I mean I saw those cool swords of yours on TV so I bed you know how to use 'em." Haulan said eagerly.
"That would be wonderful." Penny said as she walked to the door.
"Thanks for having us Mrs. Wukong, you have a nice home." Ruby said as the others began heading to the door.
"Why thank you Ruby. Sun, Blake, can I talk to you two for a minute?" she asked.
Blake and Sun both gave each other unsure looks but Yang gave both of them a confident smile and whispered to Blake "Don't worry, I know you guys got this. She looks like the understanding type so I think you'll be okay, I mean who wouldn't love a face like yours? Good luck."
"Thank you." Blake said with a grateful smile before the others went outside to wait while she and Sun remained inside.
"Blake, I can tell you're nervous, you learn a thing or two like that when you're the mother of two children. What is it?" Gina asked.
The Cat Faunus looked to the older woman and said "Mrs. Wukong, you seem to be a kind person and a loving mother, something I have sadly lacked since I was six. My past has not been the most spotless as for a long time I was angry at the world and at humanity and so I... made some poor choices."
"We all have Blake, so I take you have a bit of as checkered past?" Gina guessed.
"More than you know." Blake said sadly, "I got involved with some bad people... Mrs. Wuk... Gina, you seem to be a wonderful person but I'm afraid that if I tell you about what I did and the thing I was involved in you will want me as far away from your son as possible and..."
"Blake, your past doesn't control your present. I don't know much about you but I know you make my son very happy and for that I am grateful. If you don't want to tell me about your past then you don't have to because it's none of my business, at least it won't be unless you become part of the family." she said giving a wink to Sun who tried to hide a blush while his little sister snickered. "But from what I can tell you are a good person, I mean being a Faunus on a team with a member of the Schnee family couldn't have been easy."
"It wasn't at first but eventually we formed bonds with each other. Weiss isn't perfect but she has overcome the prejudice that her family is notorious for." Blake stated.
"Good for her and for you, now if you'd like you can tell me a little about your past later. For now go on with your friends." Gina said with a kind smile.
Blake returned the smile and said "Thank you. We'll talk about it when we get back, thank you for being so understanding Gina."
"You are welcome." the mother returned as her son and his girlfriend left the house.
As the couple closed the door behind them Yang asked "So did you tell her?"
"Not yet, but I feel a lot less nervous about it now. I think I'm ready to talk to her once we get back." Blake said with a small smile.
"Cool, now come on guys I'll take you to the shopping center." Sun said.
As the group followed him Qrow thought he saw someone watching them on the roof of a neighboring building. He looked up to see a Coyote Faunus speaking into a scroll.
"No, no I think this roof won't be much of a problem, we can do it easily mate. What day's good for you next week?" was what Qrow heard the man say. Qrow shook his head and cursed his old senses that made him a little too jumpy at times.
"Uncle Qrow, is something wrong?" Ruby asked.
"No, just being paranoid." Qrow said as he lazily followed the rest of the group.
The Coyote Faunus watched them as they left the street then said into his scroll "They're going to the shopping center, should I follow them?"
Out in the train yards on the outskirts of town a large crane lifted up the steel girders from the freight train with powerful chains before setting them down on a flatbed truck.
"Okay, I'm unhookin' 'em." said a worker.
Anna on the couch next the window and watched as the workers went about their jobs, with some draining the tanker car of its tar while others goth the easy job of unloading the machinery from the box cars. They hadn't anticipated so many workers here today, maybe the delay caused by their little group of passengers made them wait longer than expected so they had more hands to get the unloading jobs done faster and at this rate they would get to leave earlier.
She looked over to see Tom finishing up signing the paperwork a foreman had given him. After the workers were finished they'd uncouple the cars and get the caboose back on and let one of the shunting engines take the freight cars out of the way while they went to be refueled. She looked over to see the elder twin peacefully sleeping on the bed despite all the noise, how she did that Anna didn't know.
She looked up to the sky and noticed a small ship heading into town while decreasing speed. It was a bit odd since the ship didn't look at all like the smaller kinds of airships that tended to be at Hondyama's small airfield, in fact if she didn't know any better she'd think it was an attack ship...
Hondyama's shopping center was obviously one of the town's more busy areas; in contained a rather nice clothing store, a movie and book shop, a Dust shop, a hardware store, a jewelry store, and a large market place area in the center that had foods of all kinds, including a small building that housed the frozen foods. While it might seem a bit odd to an outsider to leave so much food out in the open the stands and aisles were sealed off when it came time to close, so as to keep the food fresh.
Qrow leaned against a building while nearby Winter sat on a bench talking to her house maid over the scroll with Penny happily sitting next to her, content to watch the busy people around her. He took out his flash and drank from it, only to discover that it was nearly empty. "Crap." he muttered. He walked into the marketplace to find some more whisky to refill his trusty old flask. He glanced back at Winter who still didn't seem to be bothered by the heat despite wearing her full uniform. Qrow had been on many missions in harsh desert areas but no matter how many times he came out to Vacuo he never got used to the heat. 'Maybe it's a bird thing.' Qrow thought to himself, making him chuckle out loud.
Meanwhile Yatsuhashi and the present members of Team SSSN stood in front of a fruit stand and the vendor was supplying them with a fruit known as Pitaya, or dragon fruit, which Yatsuhashi had never eaten before since it was native to hot climates.
"Thanks Vinnie." Sun said to the vendor.
"Sure thing."
"Okay boys, Pitayas can be kinda bland but when take in the spices this guy puts on 'em they're really tasty." Sun said as he passed one to each of the four boys, along with little spoons used to scoop out the flesh of the fruit from the skin. "Dig in."
They used the little spoons to scoop out the white fruit with small black dots on it and ate up, it tasted a bit odd, like a mixture of kiwi, pear, and melon but the spices put on it did in fact give it quite a bit of a tasty zing.
"Hmm, nice!" Neptune declared.
"I must admit it is very appetizing." Yatsuhashi said.
"Yeah, I've had dragon fruit before and it can be pretty bland." Scarlet commented.
Neptune looked to his partner and said "Sorry I brought up your dad man, it was kinda inappropriate."
"Don't sweat it man." Sun told him.
"So did Blake tell your mum about her dark history?" Scarlet inquired.
"Not yet, my mom said she doesn't have to until she's more comfortable, but I think they'll make some progress." Sun stated.
Neptune nodded before he looked to the largest member of the team and said "Hey Yatsu, so if you don't mine me asking... are you and Velvet like... together?"
Yatsuhashi swallowed and said "No. We are partners and good friends, I have saved her many times on missions and she has saved me from grievous injury on more than one occasion and while she is quite beautiful, for the time being we are not romantically involved."
"But you wish you were?" Sun asked.
Yatsuhashi was silent for a solid ten seconds before saying "I don't know."
"Hey, cheer up man. I think you got a chance with her." Neptune said encouragingly.
"Yeah dude, I mean you've got muscles some guys out there would kill for, like Jaune from a year ago." Sun joked, which got a small smile out of his large teammate.\
"Thank you. I will think about this later." he said.
"There are times like this I'm kinda jealous, I mean you don't see girls lining up for me." Scarlet bemoaned.
"Hey, what about that Neon girl from Team FNKI? She seemed to like you." Neptune said.
"Ha, yeah right." Scarlet laughed.
As this was going on the girls were in the clothing store, but while Coco and Velvet were in the back dressing room Team RWBY looked about the store.
Ruby approached Weiss and said "Hey, can we talk?"
"Of course we can, what about?" Weiss asked.
"Well uh... can we talk in private?" Ruby inquired bashfully.
Weiss glanced at Ruby and said "Very well, I..." she didn't get to finish as Ruby grabbed her and dragged her off into the bathroom.
"Oh man, nice gloves, they're just my colors." Yang said as she admired a pair of black and yellow leather gloves. But she sighed sadly as she looked at her metallic arm that was too large for a glove. "If it wasn't for my robo-arm they'd be perfect." she finished as she put them back on the shelf.
Blake nearly said something but silently observed instead and once her partner was no longer looking at the gloves she quickly grabbed them.
Ruby dragged Weiss into the bathroom and made sure it was empty as Weiss cried out "Ruby! What is the meaning of this?!"
"Keep your voice down! I don't want anyone to hear us." Ruby said nervously.
Weiss gave Ruby a look and asked "Is something wrong? Is there a reason you're being so secretive? Ruby, you can tell my anything, I'm your partner and despite my attitude at time I do care for you."
Ruby sighed and said "That's what I want to talk to you about."
"Beg pardon?"
"I think we've... been avoiding what happened when we were reunited in Haven for too long." Ruby said, making Weiss' eyes widen. She knew what the younger girl was talking about; those kisses.
"Ruby, it was a spur of the moment thing. I had been so worried about you and was so happy to see you were alright I..." the heiress looked at the silver eyed girl and saw the confusion in those beautiful orbs, Ruby had changed a bit; she was now only a mere inch shorter than Weiss and her hair was a bit longer, but those eyes still had that wonderful kindness, determination, and innocence in them. "Ruby, I love you dearly as a friend and as a partner, you have helped me in more ways than I ever could have imagined. When we first met I was so stuck up and full of myself and my family's legacy, I was so sure that nearly everyone at Beacon was beneath me but you... all of you helped me discover that I was wrong and that I underestimated all of you terribly."
"So there was love in that kiss?" Ruby asked.
"... Yes but not romantic love, or maybe there was... I don't know okay! You kissed me back too, was there love in that?" she inquired.
"I don't know either." Ruby admitted, "We were so busy trying to save Pyrrha from being frozen that it was just a spur of the moment thank you for everything you had done. You risked everything, including your own life, to save Penny because it was the right thing to do. You risked so much for her and for me that I thought kissing you back was the only real way to thank you."
Weiss smiled and said "You always have been clueless to subtlety, but I guess that's what makes you so... you."
"So Weiss do you think we could ever be... together? I mean what about you and Neptune?" Ruby pointed out.
"I think it's obvious that we're no longer together like that. We are still good friends and you know as well as I do how wonderful Neptune is but I decided he's just not for me in that way." Weiss said before taking a breath and continuing with "As for you and I, as a couple? I... I don't really know yet. I mean, if there are two things that the last year has taught it's never underestimate anyone no matter how goofy they appear to be at first glance and that anything is possible."
Ruby smiled and said "To be honest, I don't think I'm ready for a serious romance yet."
"Oum knows that's true. I mean, it could happen but for the time being can we still be partners and friends?" Weiss asked.
"The best." Ruby answered with a happy grin before she hugged Weiss, who smiled and returned the hug.
As they left the bathroom they ran into Blake who said "Come on, Coco wants us in the changing rooms, she's gotten Velvet into something."
Both Ruby and Weiss gave the Faunus girl a curious look but she just shrugged before she led them away
"You can't hide in there forever Velv!" Coco said as she and Yang waited outside of the dressing booth in the dressing room area. Luckily they were the only ones there so no one could stare and gawk at them as they waited for the shy Rabbit Faunus to come out.
"What's going on?" Ruby asked as the rest of Team RWBY came in.
"Coco gave Velvet a revealing outfit and she doesn't want to show us." the blonde brawler explained.
"Why doesn't she just put her clothes back on?" Weiss inquired.
"I swiped 'em." Coco answered as she held up Velvet's outfit.
"Clever girl." Blake muttered, which got a laugh out of Yang.
"You bet I am, come on Velv it's just us! I've seen you in your underwear before and you trust these girls, right?" Coco urged.
"I'll only come out if you all promise not to take pictures or say a word of this to any of the boys... especially Yatsu!" she demanded nervously.
"What are you making her wear?" Blake asked as she took out her scroll.
"You'll see, just get rid of your scroll." Coco said as she placed her scroll on the ground and slid it over to the other side of the wall. The girls of Team RWBY didn't know what to make of this but decided to follow her example and do the same with their own scrolls. "They're gone Velvet, come on out."
"Okay..." she muttered. She slowly began to open the white door that separated her booth from the main dressing room before saying "But first you all have to promise you won't make fun of me!"
"We promise Velvet." Weiss swore.
"What's to make fun of? I think you'd look good in anything." Ruby encouraged.
"Well maybe not everything, I mean there's stuff even I can't pull off but we won't make fun of you." Coco agreed.
"If it shows off some skin don't worry, I have worn way worse." Yang assured her.
"Come on out." Blake urged.
Velvet took a deep breath before opening up the door to reveal a rather breathtaking outfit that looked it belonged on a belly dancer; she wore no shoes and her waist was covered by a sarong skirt that was cut on both sides to show both of her legs. The sapphire sarong skirt itself hugged her waist tightly, giving any and all who beheld it a very generous view of her hips and her pale, thin torso. The top she wore was the same color as he skirt and hugged her chest tightly, making her cleavage stand out. She wore a hand band that was a mere inch away from her ears and a arm band on her left arm which was holding her dangling right one nervously. She was blushing madly so she hung her dead down to stare at the floor to avoid eye contact.
Yang whistled in admiration before giving into a teasing temptation to say "I think I know a certain seven foot tall samurai who'd faint at the sight of this."
"Tell me about it, I don't think he could keep up that whole 'tall, dark, brooding, and hansom loner' bit for much long if he saw this." Coco agreed.
"As I said, tell Yatsuhashi about this and I will tear your worlds asunder." the Rabbit Faunus meekly threatened.
"Don't worry, this will be our little secret." promised Ruby.
"Besides, you look absolutely breathtaking." Blake assured her.
"Th-thanks." Velvet said.
"So, besides the pleasure of seeing one very drop dead gorgeous Faunus girl in a revealing dress..." Coco joked, "can anyone tell me why I did this?"
"Because it makes Velvet look sexy?" Yang guessed, which made the shy girl in front of her blush a little more.
"... Well yeah, but besides that didn't any of you notice that this is how a lot of girls around our age dress around here?" Coco asked.
"Well it is blistering out there, cool clothing is probably normal for them no matter how revealing." Weiss stated.
"Right, but I noticed that around here clothes like that are the norm." Coco said before she held up a cropped olive undershirt and added "Look familiar?"
"Yeah, that looks like what Emerald wore!" Ruby said.
Coco nodded and began to explain "Right; remember what Ruby told us what Cinder had let slip about her little cronies during their 'training sessions' before we left Haven? Well I decided to look into those little details. You see, fashion can tell you a lot about a person if you pay close attention; where they're from, what they're like, if they care or not about how they look... and clothes like the ones Emerald tended to wear scream Vacuo. Fox comes from Vacuo too so I asked him if the girls from places like this dress like Emerald did and he said yeah. And if you've paid attention you'll have noticed that the girls around here tend to show a lot of skin due to the light clothes they wear because of the heat and Emerald probably wears those kind of clothes out of habit."
"You can tell all that from the clothes a person wears?" Weiss asked.
"Oh yeah, like how I can tell that you, your big sis, and Neptune wear nice fancy outfits because of your Atlesian upbringing, Blake tends to wear black to match her personality and the whole black cat thing, Ren's outfit has some ninja influence, I could go on." Coco said with a sly smile. "When you're a fashionista like me and the daughter of one of the world's top models you tend to learn things like this."
"So what about Mercury?" Blake inquired.
"Ruby said that Cinder mentioned Mercury's dad was an assassin named Marcus Black who did some very messed up things to his own son. I looked this guy up and he's an assassin who until Ruby spilled the beans was listed with 'whereabouts unknown'. He came from the north-west part of Vale, where gray hair is pretty common, just like a certain headmaster of ours." Coco revealed.
"So Ozpin and Mercury could be from the same neck of the woods?" Yang said.
"Correct. In hindsight I guess they should have known something was up when the ambulance taking Mercury to the hospital never showed up." Coco said.
"Tell me about it." Yang muttered bitterly.
"So, what is the point of all this?" Blake asked.
"To get a better grasp on our enemy. Now it's pretty unlikely that Emerald came from this town, but from what I've read orphans running around the streets and stealing things isn't uncommon in the towns of Vacuo, so combine that with how she dresses and it's a safe bet that Miss Sustrai came from some town in Vacuo. And thanks to what Ashe told us we know that Cinder came from Mistral." Coco stated.
"That's all well and good, but can I please have my clothes back now?" Velvet begged.
"Sure thing, Velv." Coco said as she tossed her friend back her outfit. "But we're buying the stuff you're wearing."
"Why?" Velvet asked.
Coco smirked before saying "Because not only will it look good on me, but I know that in the future you are gonna use that to wow a certain samurai before you rock his world..."
"Okay, no more talking!" the Rabbit Faunus cried as her face got redder.
Adam and a small group of others jumped from roof to roof, quietly and unnoticed until they arrived at the neighborhood where the Wukong family lived. He had sent other members of the White Fang out to hijack cars for the escape when things got hectic and the ship, which had landed on the western outskirts of the town, was about to send the group of Grimm Knights to their location.
"Is everyone ready?" Adam asked.
"Yes sir." they all answered.
As Haulan sat on the living room's couch and watched the television Gina went back to the dishes and was currently putting them back in the cabinets, humming a little tune to herself as she did so. Gina didn't really know what to make of her son's girlfriend just yet but Blake seemed like a nice enough girl, she must be if Sun was willing to run off from Haven Academy for a few days to find.
She felt that she would just have to get to know Blake as time went on, no good trying to force her to open up. Just then there was a knock at the door, she was about to ask Haulan to answer it but decided to do it herself, just in case it wasn't her son and his teammates. She walked to the door once again and opened it up to see a small crowd of Faunus and she didn't recognize a single one of them. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asked right before the group parted to reveal a tall man who brought up his powerful leg to kick her in the stomach and knocked her down on her back a few feet away, making her cry out in pain.
"Mom?!" cried Haulan as she jumped over the couch and ran over to her mother as several Faunus armed with guns rushed into the house while the Bull Faunus with blood red hair who kicked Gina down took out his sword and pointed it at them.
"Hello Mrs. Wukong, these good people are members of the White Fang organization and I am its leader, Adam Taurus. I believe you've recently met someone who belongs to us."
Blake stood near the entrance of the clothes store while Coco, with some help from Weiss, paid for the clothes they had purchased. She had went up to the register a little early with a surprise for Yang she'd give her some time in the future; the pair of gloves the blonde brawler had been admiring. She had decided to buy them in secret and keep the right glove while giving Yang the left glove, it seemed to be perfect as a nice gift. The gloves currently rested in her pocket as she leaned against the door only for her ears to perk up at the sound of footsteps approaching her from behind.
She was about to turn around when a voice whispered "We have your boyfriend's family. Give yourself up to Adam if you want to save them."
To Be Continued...
Dear god my writer's block was at full peak, I procrastinated for all of Monday and most of Tuesday and Wednesday before forcing myself to write this chapter. There was a big part of me that just didn't want to write for some reason so I'm sorry if this chapter sucks, since I fear it might be another weak one. But again, thanks to RelentlessCrusader for helping me out with some ideas for Sun's family.
Okay... Velvet in belly dancer-esque outfit, don't act like it's not both adorable and sexy, it's shameless but I think it works and it will help out later.
Also, some WhiteRose development, finally and some development for Sun, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi. And don't put too much thought into the idea of Scarlet/Neon, its just a nod to their voice actors.
Announcement time guys: In October there will not be many updates as that's the month where I just go insane and binge watch/read/play a bunch of horror movies/shows/books/comics/games. I will get a chapter out (and maybe a second one) in that month.
If you enjoyed this chapter on Fanfiction . Net then please review, follow, and favorite it you liked it and if you're on An Archive of Our Own then leave a kudos and comment and possibly even bookmark it. Please guys give me some feedback, as it keeps me and this story going and if possible at all mention this story on the RWBY Reddit.