Note:

I have my stupid awards ceremony and speech coming up again soon (3rd October) and need to take a week off around it to prepare. I really thought the business would be closed before getting to it, but it appears not ffs.

As such, there will be no updates from Monday 1st to Sunday 6th October. Both to let me get some prep down before, and to have a chance to unwind after it's over. Thankfully this is the last time I'll ever have to do it.

Cover Art: Solace O'Autumn

Chapter 41

"You're awake. That's good."

Jaune's first thoughts on waking up weren't particularly clever. His very first one was to locate where the closest bucket to throw up in was, and his second was on how to hold the glass bowl handed to him in such a way that he didn't splash himself with the vomit. His second thought was to note how utterly wretched he felt in every individual cell in his own body. His head felt like it was still underwater, and his body felt like it had crawled out the grave.

It took a lot longer than he cared to admit to even consider who had spoken to him, handed and taken away his sick bowl, and who was patiently sitting on a chair beside his bed.

The woman was tanned from warm sun and days outside, with medium-length black hair and two furry black ears pierced with golden studs. She was older, late-thirties or early-forties, with a gentle smile and warm golden eyes.

She was also, apparently, something of a badass.

.

Kali Belladonna

Lv. 29

Founding member of the White Fang and currently retired, Kali Belladonna holds no love towards Sienna Khan. She chooses to spend her time supporting her husband in his efforts to keep the people from falling to Khan's influence.

.

Huh. Even middle-aged women were stronger than him. Go figure.

"W—Where…?" he croaked. "How…?"

"You're in Kuo Kuana, young man."

"Kuo what…?"

"It's on Menagerie."

Jaune's eyes widened. "The faunus island…?"

"If that's what you want to call it." Kali looked a little uncomfortable with that, and Jaune wished he hadn't said it. The name and face were ringing some bells, too. Tickling something familiar in his mind. "A fisherman and his crew found you floating in the water. They say you were delivered to them by sharks of all things, but sailors always have been a superstitious lot."

The sharks had actually done as they said they would. Jaune couldn't believe his luck. He'd thought for sure he was dead when he saw the shark coming in, jaws open, but animals lacking hands used their mouths to carry things. Still, they'd sounded so mocking and vicious.

I misjudged them. Gah. And I promised to get them loads of meat, didn't I? I'm going to have to hold to that unless I want to find out what sharks are like when you cheat them.

Something he really didn't want to find out.

"You were brought back and handed off to us due to you being a human," Kali continued. "And, on that note, you should probably be somewhat wary wandering Kuo Kuana on your own. Despite our best attempts, your kind aren't seen too favourably around here."

"Bwuh…?"

Kali smiled, laughing faintly. "I'm sorry; I'm getting ahead of myself. Kali Belladonna at your service. Co-Chieftain of Kuo Kuana through my husband. And you might be?"

"Jaune Arc. Uh. Musician."

"A pleasure. You'll be staying here with us until you recover. This is – or was – my daughter's bedroom." There was a hint of longing there, but she pushed on. "It's not particularly girly, she never was, so it should suit you just fine. I've asked Ghira to procure you a change of clothes since yours were thoroughly ruined."

That prompted Jaune to blink and look under the covers at himself. He was not naked, but he was in a set of pyjamas that might as well have been made to fit two of him. If these were her husband's, then the man must have been massive. "Who undressed me?"

"The doctor who looked over you – with me there." Kali chuckled at his mortified expression. "Don't fret so much. You've nothing I haven't seen before, and nothing a woman would find exciting when you were on death's door. I prefer my men a little less drowned, I'm afraid."

A reluctant and painful laugh bubbled out of Jaune's bruised throat. "F—Fair point. Thank you so much for—"

"Don't talk if it hurts." Kali stood, brushing her long skirt down, and picked up a glass of orange cordial. It burned as much as it soothed his throat. "You need to rest. I only allowed this so you wouldn't wake up confused and afraid. I'll have some warm soup brought to you along with some soft bread. You'll be staying bedbound for a few days. Doctor's orders."

They'd get no argument from him.

/-/

In the days it took to recover, Jaune ended up learning more about Menagerie and the family looking after him. He'd met Ghira, a hulking giant of a faunus who was as intimidating as he was kind. The whiplash from such a frightening man smiling and asking if he felt any better was sudden, but he'd soon learned Ghira and Kali were some of the kindest souls on the island, especially to a human like him.

Once the confusion and pain from nearly drowning faded, Jaune was able to connect the names and faces to the terrorist he'd faced before as well – Blake Belladonna. It was obvious in hindsight but, as Kali said, he'd been a little too drowned for his brain to function properly. Either way, the fact that their statuses both said they were retired from the White Fang, and even had bad relations with their leader, and that Kali had suggested their daughter no longer lived here…?

It wasn't hard to see they and Blake weren't in contact.

Speaking of contact, he had little to no way of achieving that on his own either. Menagerie lacked a CCT and coverage over the island was spotty at best. It allowed for calls from islander to islander, but not across the ocean. That meant he couldn't reach out to any of the many people who must have been wondering if he was safe – but it also meant the people chasing him wouldn't know where he was either.

Because if even he hadn't planned to end up on Menagerie, they sure as heck wouldn't. With any luck they might even trace the boat he took out, find it had been wrecked by Grimm, and assume him dead. An extended absence from the world would do a good job of selling that.

Kali still offered to let him write a letter and send it out with the next trade ship going to Mistral. That was the main way the islanders communicated across seas. He penned one to Saphron, with instructions for her to pass on the news to his mom and Pyrrha. He also wrote one to Penny but didn't want to burden Kali with too many. He felt bad not writing to Meera but since she might still be under watch from the people after him, he couldn't afford to put her in that kind of risk.

And it wasn't like he still had his scroll. That thing, along with his guitar, had ended up on the bottom of the ocean. He'd lost his wallet, too, leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back – except that those had been thrown away by Kali since they were well and truly ruined.

Instead, she took his measurements and went out to buy him some clothes in the local fashion – which was some mishmash of old-fashioned Mistral robes and loose beach wear fitting the climate. It felt strange to wear knee-length shorts and a white shirt and sandals, but one step out into Menagerie's baking sun proved it a good idea.

"It's good you're on your feet and able to walk again," said Kali, keeping her own pace very slow to match his. "A walk and some sunlight will do you good."

"I feel more alive for it. And hungry."

"Hmhmhm. We'll buy some lunch out."

"I can pay—" Jaune patted his empty pocket and sighed. "I can pay you back once I have access to my accounts. I have plenty of money, I just need to reach a bank and have a new card issued since mine is sleeping with the fishes."

"There's no need, dearie. We're quite secure in our finances."

"I'm still paying you back. Ugh. If I had a guitar, I could probably earn money here on the island too."

"Oh? That confident?"

Jaune grinned. "Not to toot my horn but I'm pretty good with a guitar. I've been using it to pay for my travels across Remnant." He sighed. "And I've always had it on me, every waking moment. I feel naked without it now."

It wasn't just a connection to his family, but a facet of his Semblance – which was the soul, so it was kind of like saying his guitar was an extension of his soul. That and it was a weapon, meaning he was very much unarmed without one.

"Do you know if there's any guitar shops on the island, Mrs Belladonna?"

"Kali," she insisted.

"Kali, then."

"Better. And not specifically guitar, but I'm sure there is a music shop that sells instruments. We can head there now if you wish." Kali covered her mouth with her hand and looked slyly at him. "Maybe I can see what constitutes pretty good with a guitar in your mind, hmm?"

It was obvious she didn't think he'd be all that good. Menagerie didn't have a strong enough connection to the CCT to have much in the way of internet. Little wonder the people seemed to actually get stuff done. It'd be good not to have the attention on him, though. Even better to think this place might actually be free of the accursed influence of his female alter-ego.

Or at least that was what he assumed until Kali showed him the shop and Guitar Cutie's stupid face was in a poster in the window. Jaune stared at it.

"I hear she's quite famous on the mainland," Kali said. "Our traders pick up things they think will be of interest and brought back a few of her videos as recordings. Our radio stations have been playing her music and I'm told the children love it."

"Good for them. Let's just go inside."

"Oh my. Do I detect some jealousy?"

"No."

"Then could you have a crush on her?"

Jaune gagged. "Hell no! She's overrated."

Kali giggled as they went in. The shop was nothing compared to the ones in the major cities, having a very limited selection of various instruments. There were only two keyboards on offer, one drum set, two violins and the most common looked to be the flute with a wall of six along with some music books.

In Atlas, there had been whole racks of each instrument, and a full wall dedicated to guitars of every shape, size and colour. Even Ansel had more variety than this, and the village was smaller than Kuo Kuana. The problem was logistics, with no one supplying the island and the locals forced to rely on shipping goods over themselves.

The woman behind the counter shot Jaune a suspicious glare when they entered but smiled for Kali, talking to her amicably and blanking him. He'd come to expect it, warned by Ghira not to roam Kuo Kuana without him or Kali because they couldn't guarantee how the bitter population might treat him.

"Guitars are over here," said the clerk. "We only have a limited stock."

They weren't kidding. Three guitars. Back home, these were the quickest selling instruments and even the smallest store would have more on offer. Here, there was one acoustic, one electric and one acoustic-electric. Obnoxiously, all three were branded with Guitar Cutie's dumb face.

"Oh my," said Kali, giggling into her hand. "How cute!"

"They're the hottest selling guitars on the mainland," said the clerk. "Sadly, there aren't as many people here that are musically inclined, though we did sell an electric guitar to Adam Taurus a while back."

Kali's cheer evaporated. "Him? Hmph. I wouldn't expect someone like him to care one bit for art."

The clerk wisely chose not to answer. Adam had been the man at the gala, the one who tried to kill Weiss. Jaune didn't bring that up either, knowing it'd be a bad idea to criticise the White Fang on an island practically run by them.

"Do you mind if I try this one?" asked Jaune, touching the electric-acoustic. It was the closest to his old one, and though one guitar was like another in terms of playing, the weight and feel would be more familiar.

The clerk didn't answer him.

Kali cleared her throat. "Can we try this one out, dearie?"

"Of course, ma'am."

"How generous of you," Kali said, with a roll of her eyes. It actually made the clerk blush and duck her head, embarrassed to be called out for her actions. "Go on, Jaune. Show us what you can do, hmmm? I've been curious to hear what a travelling minstrel can do."

Excited to hear him fumble around and make a fool of himself, more like. Kali wasn't mean about it, more teasing, and he was sure she planned to praise him no matter how bad a job he did. But Jaune smirked as he settled the strap over his shoulders and touched his fingers to the strings. His Semblance seemed to hum, almost as if it were coming back to life after a long absence.

His Charisma flared to life.

And he played.

The song was a Vacuan number, a lively beat that never failed to get the casino patrons stamping feet and singing along. He'd have gone with Baby Shark but didn't want to humiliate himself any more than that stupid song already had. Still, the song he'd picked was a complicated one with a solo that let him show off, using the guitar's inbuilt electric speaker play out the screeching slide even when it was technically an acoustic guitar. He finished with a quick solo, fingers of both hands flying over the frets, tapping the strings to keep them vibrating without him having to strum. When he finished, he gave it one loud howl and a slide, screeching to a sudden stop.

"Well?" he said, gazing challengingly at Kali. "How about that?"

There was no hiding his victory as Kali stared at him with her jaw hanging open. The clerk was wide eyed and clapping excitedly, for a moment forgetting she was meant to hate him for not being a faunus.

"W—Well… that wasn't bad…" Kali stammered and tried to regain the initiative. "That… wow, that really wasn't bad at all. Um. Goodness me."

"I did say I could travel and make money off my skills."

"You did…" Kali looked just a little stunned as she turned to the clerk. "We'll take it. How much is it?"

"It's 2,600 lien."

"The price here says 2,000 lien," Jaune pointed out.

"The tag is outdated. Prices were recently increased."

Intellectually, Jaune had known racism existed in the world. The White Fang existed for a reason after all. Still, he'd never truly seen it happening in front of his eyes, let alone to him, and he didn't know what he was meant to do. Should he call it out? Would that even change anything? He felt powerless, and suddenly a whole lot more sympathetic to the faunus on the mainland who experienced this.

It had always seemed so obvious to him that the correct thing to do was stand up to it and face it head on, but here and now, facing it, he didn't feel confident enough to do the same. It was one of those occasions where the answer was easier said than done.

"Oh, it is what it is," said Kali, opening her purse. "I know how difficult times can be here, dearie. Why, I remember when you and your son were suffering when your husband was trapped on Mistral by that storm. Ghira and I paid for your food for a full week. Do you remember that?"

The clerk froze, and then swallowed. "I… I do, Kali. I can do it for 2,000 for you—"

"No, no, no." Kali forced the full amount into the suddenly horrified woman's hands. "If the price had increased, the price has increased. You've always been such an honest woman. I trust you."

Guilt rolled off the woman in waves. Suddenly, she wasn't pulling one over on the human, but cheating a faunus she had known from a young age and quite clearly held a lot of respect for. The woman looked visibly ill.

"Come along, Jaune," Kali said. "I want Ghira to hear you play! He's been so stressed lately."

Jaune shot the guilty faunus one last look before shouldering his new guitar and leaving the store. He hoped it would be one of the few cases of outright racism he'd have to face, though he'd soon find out it was one of the tamest.

/-/

"Sienna Khan." Corsac bowed his head in the smallest sign of respect. "We've collected what information we can on the human on Menagerie."

"Go on, then."

"His name is Jaune Arc, and he claims to be a travelling musician, a man of around sixteen years who has apparently used his skill with the guitar to travel from kingdom to kingdom."

Sienna frowned. It was a tall tale. "How likely is this?"

"At first, we thought it a cover, but he recently acquired a guitar and when my brother asked, the lady running the store said he played the guitar like a rockstar, so he's certainly good enough. One of our agents within the Belladonna manor has also heard him play and says he is very, very good."

It would be easy to just leave it at that, take it at face value – and Sienna doubted a spy would throw themselves into the ocean to be devoured by sharks to get on the island.

According to the fisherman who brought him in – who was not White Fang but who was a supporter of their cause, and so trustworthy – the boy had been on death's door when they found him. A tragic accident by all accounts, and one Sienna was quite willing to accept as the truth.

But the truth didn't change the problems inherent in his being here.

He was a human on Menagerie, a human in Kuo Kuana, and while that didn't necessarily make him a threat to the faunus of the island, it certainly made him one to the White Fang.

"How does he treat faunus?" she asked.

"By all accounts, he treats faunus as he would any other. There is not a shred of racial hatred in him." Corsac frowned. "That may pose a problem."

"I'm well aware."

The tightrope of balancing recruitment with the White Fang's ability to operate unchallenged on Menagerie relied on the fear their fellow faunus had of humans and the outside world. For all that Sienna would prefer to live in a world without it – and for all that she fought for it – the simple truth was that the White Fang needed support. It needed both recruits and donations, and those would only come from people who were afraid of a world without their protection.

Theirs was the politics of fear, as much as Sienna hated it. They benefited most when their own people were deathly afraid of the cruel and hateful humans, and willing to do anything to support the White Fang in keeping them off the island.

"As distasteful as it is, we need him discredited," she said. "But we can't have him killed," she warned. "If he's killed by faunus, we'll be seen as the aggressors and he the victim. It won't matter if it's us who does it or some angry local. Make sure all our men know not to harm him."

Corsac hummed his agreement. "It may be prudent to have some of ours keep an eye on him, ma'am. Though most will follow our orders, there are some to whom their hatred overwrites their common sense, and their loyalty."

"I'll have Amitola deal with it."

Ilia would be a fine pick not only for her unwavering loyalty and dislike of the humans, but because her faunus features were sources of cruelty from them. Sienna was aware, and disturbed, by the fact that some faunus features were seen as fetishistic by humans. Ears like her own and tails were among them, sometimes called cute, other times sexy. Some faunus were not so fortunate, having claws or insect appendages or, in Ilia's case, scales.

They faced far worse from humans, so if the Arc boy was going to be tempted to out himself a racist, Ilia would be the best chance for it. And if not then she could keep the idiot from being killed and becoming a "tragic victim" that would have faunus feeling sympathetic for their oppressors.

"We've yet to conduct a full background check," said Corsac. "Information is slow from the mainland as you know."

"I'm aware. Bring me what you have when you have it. For now, we shall simply see if we can't shunt him off the island as quickly as possible. Once he's out of sight, the people will forget about him. Increase your sermons in the meantime. Heighten caution, and make sure he does not do anything to damage our standing among the people or increase his own."

If the boy was content to stay out of trouble and not bother them, then Sienna was content to let him peacefully exist and leave Menagerie. He would only become a threat if he went out his way to undo the work they'd put in.

/-/

Jaune tilted his head at his new quest.

.

NEW QUEST: Hope for the people

The faunus of Menagerie are cut off from the world and live in constant fear. Ease their worries by playing music for them and show them that they need not fear the human in their midst.

Success: +EXP. +Title: Faunus Friend. +Rep Belladonna family.

Failure: -Rep White Fang.

.

Huh…

It had been a while since he'd picked up a quest that was so simple. The last few had been ridiculous, from escaping the Grimm to completing a drug deal and defeating a sea monster – the last two of which he'd catastrophically failed for obvious reasons. Even before that his quests had been saving orphans from criminals and dismantling the Crown organisation.

The quest would have been enough to have him feeling suspicious if not for the fact he had received quests like this in the past. There had been the one to raise charity money for Ren and Nora's old orphanage, and the one to raise money to travel the world. Not every quest he got was world-ending in its possibilities. Hell, he still had the "lose your virginity" one in his back pocket.

And I might have completed that one if I was allowed to stay in Vacuo and get to know Meera more. Stupid Grimm.

Either way, it was nice to have a normal quest again for a chance, and this would be a chance to get stronger. Even if the goal had never been to maximise levels, the latest trip had shown him that being weak was dangerous. The Grimm wouldn't care for him not being a huntsman, so he really ought to take any chances he got to level up.

Especially if experience was being handed to him on a silver platter like this.

When he broached the idea at dinner with Kali and Ghira, they were ecstatic about it. Both had listened to his music and enjoyed it, though he was careful not to use Bardic Skills so as to avoid any repeats of the Willow incident.

"It sounds like a great idea," said Ghira, moving his hands about animatedly. "I can arrange for you to play to some local schoolchildren if you're willing. I think it'd be great to get more kids involved in music, especially when the alternative is terrorism," he mumbled, under his breath. "They'll be happy to have an afternoon off from lessons, too."

"Maybe you could tell them about your travels as well," Kali said. "So many here have never ben beyond our borders and we don't have an airport, so travelling is only by sea. They learn about the other kingdoms, but they've never seen them as you have."

Stories and music, huh? It really fit the image of the bard, didn't it? Jaune laughed and agreed. It was a small thing to do, would give him a completed quest, and it'd also make Kali and Ghira happy. As an added bonus, it might even cause the faunus to relax around him. They were mistrustful of him now, but if he showed them that he was harmless and an all-around good guy, they'd surely open up.

And why not?

He'd wanted to travel. His goal had always been to visit every kingdom on Remnant. Menagerie was a kingdom, just one he'd skipped out on in his plans so as to avoid the risk of the White Fang. But since he was here, why not make some memories? He had to lay low and let this Grimm thing blow over anyway, and this had to be the best hiding spot on Remnant. No one would suspect him, a human, of being here on an island belonging to the faunus.

And besides, it wasn't like anyone would be upset at him playing music for kids.

Right…?

/-/

Sienna Khan swore as Ilia delivered her latest report, that the Belladonnas had arranged for their guest to perform and give speeches to local schoolchildren, and that he had already done as much.

"What did he talk of?" she asked of Ilia.

"He talked of all the places he's visited and how great they are, and he made no mention of the racism, ma'am." Ilia spat her answer with venom. "Trust a human to skip out on that to make themselves look better!"

Yes. Trust them to do just that.

And that was the problem, wasn't it?

Arc was making humans look better. Sure, children could be easily fooled, and their parents would set them straight, but the more he acted out and the more he did to bridge the divide between faunus and human, the more the White Fang's unwavering support from the populace would falter. The radicals among them were calling for the human to be killed on principal, and the moderates were content to watch and wait.

It was a balancing act that had been easy with no humans here, because she could just nod and agree to the radical elements without actually having to follow through. Now, there was a human on the island and people were breathing down her neck.

The boy had just made himself a problem.

Jaune's Semblance being a troll as usual.

Also, site casually removing my "+" and "-" symbols in the quest logs is annoying.

Next Chapter: 22nd September

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