Ch 7: Family Is The Key

Autumn sniffled, still getting over the cold as she was gently woken by Jangri as the rabbit stroked her hair, voice sweet and soft, "hey there. Your scroll has been going off non stop for a while now. You might want to take care of it."

She blinked, gathering her surroundings before her face turned bright red and she tucked into her sheets, reaching a hand out for the object, "s…sorry."

With a gentle chuckle the rabbit handed the scroll over as it was currently ringing. The moment Autumn saw who was calling, she flew upright with a squeak, expression of panic. She quickly answered on impulse, "H…hi Mom… What's up?"

Weiss's voice came streaming through the call as Autumn flinched, "don't you what's up me! What are you doing in Mistral!? Your mother and I have been.."

In panic, Autumn quickly clicked the end call button, growing pale instantly and staring at the screen, "oh no… I did not just hang up on her… ohnoohnoohnoohno…."

She climbed from the bed quickly as the scroll lit up with a call again, grabbing at Azure and shaking her harshly, "AZURE! What are we gonna do!? Mom is calling! She sounds mad!"

The cat hissed, swatting Autumn away and rolling to sit up, glaring at Autumn, "how do you know she's mad…?"

Autumn nibbled her lip, "wellll…. I mighttt have accidentally… hung up on her…"

"Are you crazy!?" She replied, her full attention on Autumn now.

"She was yelling! I panicked! Azure save me!" Autumn whined clinging with a sniffle to the cat.

Azure groaned, rolling her eyes but before she could really say much her own scroll was going off, "sorry but I have my own demons to worry about…."

As Autumn whined, Azure raised the scroll to her ear, "Yea what is it?"

Yang grit her teeth, "Azure you really did it this time. Do you have any idea how dangerous and stupid this is?"

When she got no response from Azure who was currently messing with her nails and pretending not to listen, Yang's voice raised, "once again you've gone along with your cousin to something foolish but this time I can't bail you out! Why you keep doing this I can't understand but the moment you get back we are going to have a serious chat!"

More silence and Yang grew more livid, "are you even listening to me?!"

Azure hummed, giving a flat unenthused response, "um hum. I heard you. Azure you're an idiot. Azure I'm so disappointed. Azure why are you always like this? yada yada yada. Spare me."

"Dammit Azure…" Yang started but was cut off as Blake took the scroll from her, "enough Yang. Let me handle this. Azure honey, are you two at least safe?"

The cat glanced around the four walls and at the rabbit who was currently busy getting more medicine prepped for Autumn and waiting for the chaos to die down. She reached with her fingers and patted Autumn's head, rubbing it to help calm her down, "we're so safe I'm bored to death."

She could hear her mom's sigh of relief, which only made her slightly offended, as if it was an acknowledgement she was incapable. If not for knowing her mom believed in all her kids she would have actually been mad, "Azure, as soon as the two of you can, you need to come home. I know it might not seem like it but this mission is extremely dangerous."

She couldn't help growling, "is it?! Because honestly so far all I've done is get stuck listening to Autumn be goo goo eyed over a damn rabbit, have to deal with the twins constantly shitting on me for existing, and be babysat like I'm 5! Can't even step out to smoke without getting bothered! And when we did fight, I did better than the pro! So save it! We're fine dammit! Leave me alone."

As Blake was trying to calm her down, Azure hung up and gripped her scroll, growling angrily as she snapped it in two. Autumn gasped, staring at Azure as she got out of bed, throwing the pieces out the window. She forgot her scroll was even ringing. Jangri had stood up at that, watching her, "You shouldn't do that mate. If we all end up in trouble you'll need that…"

Azure hissed and her energy flexed harshly, "what trouble? We've been stuck in this damn room! Ugh! I need air."

Jangri side-stepped out of Azure's way as she headed for the bathroom to get dressed. While she was in the bathroom, the other two shared a glance and the rabbit tried to reassure Autumn, gesturing towards the scroll, "come on mate. Let's just get this over with yea?"

She nodded, still a bit stunned as she answered, "Mom I'm so sorry I…Mama?"

Ruby was the one calling this time, "Yup. Your mom's pretty angry that you hung up on her though. Be sure to talk to her later, ok?"

Autumn nodded, "Yes mama. Look, I'm sorry. I got really curious and dragged Azure into this. Aunt Yang really upset her though…"

"I'm sure Blake will handle that. I'm just glad you're alright. I swear that curiosity of yours will be the death of you one day. We can talk about it all when you get home but please just stay out of too much trouble and listen to anything the twins and Jangri ask ok? For me?"

She glanced at Jangri who just smiled, making Autumn turn pink, "yes Mama. I promise."

Satisfied, Ruby got off just as Weiss started to fuss in the background but Autumn could tell her parents were just worried about their youngest child and she was quite prone to getting herself into trouble. As she set her scroll down and Jangri offered her the prepared medicine, Autumn sighed. She felt really bad that Azure was in this mess because of her. She blushed as she felt Jangri nudge her, "it'll be fine. Let everyone blow off some steam. I'll look into securing her another scroll, just might take me a bit. Focus on feeling better. Gonna take you both for a field trip when you're well."

The thought perked up Autumn's mood for sure. She smiled and downed the tonic before Azure came back out, neither trying to stop her on her war path but Jangri stepped out to block the door briefly, "without a scroll try not to go too far mate. That's all I ask."

Azure growled but when Jangri didn't back down she rolled her eyes, "fine whatever now move before I make you move."

"Azure…" Autumn whispered, concerned.

Jangri didn't flinch, refusing to be baited by the threat. She could tell the girl was just irritated. She finally stepped away and let Azure out, stepping out after her and closing the door, watching Azure storm to the end of the hall before she spoke carefully, "try to avoid the wolf this time yea?"

The way Azure froze for a moment and her fists clenched Jangri knew she had made it known to Azure that she knew. It was all she wanted to do for now to see what would happen, going back into the room once Azure continued to leave.

—-

Bao was groggy when he woke up. Out of the twins, he tended to be more nocturnal while Mao was an early riser. This morning though, he could still feel her in the bed. Since they had taken Azure and Autumn's original room, there was only one bed but the twins were quite comfortable with the concept of sharing just about everything. They had always shared a bed as kids too, finding the warmth more comfortable and while Bao never acted it or said it, he actually hated being alone ever, even when asleep.

Now that they were older, it happened less but if they had to share a sleeping arrangement, they still tended to snuggle like a bundle of baby kittens for warmth in a tangle of piled up forms. Yang often still teased them about it even though they were old enough now to buy their own liquor if they wanted. Though Mao hadn't gotten up, she was already awake. She was curled and pressed close to her brother, whimpering. He hummed, releasing a calming purr as he petted her head, "Amethyst is going to be ok Mao. Trust in her."

That seemed to break the wall she had been holding on to this entire time and she began to sob quietly into his shirt. He just continued to pet her hair, resting his chin on it, going quiet and just letting his purr calm the air. He was thinking about what she had said that night with the recruiter now as he waited her emotions out. Amethyst had returned from summer break with some sort of stressful scent on her but he had just assumed it was from school. It didn't even seem that Mauve knew what had happened which was curious but those twins were not nearly as close as he and his sister were so maybe he just really didn't know.

He had mentioned that Amethyst had spent the last few weeks of the break at their grandmothers without him so maybe it was because her parents had discarded her? Maybe she was ashamed or scared to tell Mauve? Bao had seen how their parents had favored him as a son over their daughter in their early years. Maybe Amethyst felt jealous or just didn't want to worry him? His thoughts were interrupted by his scroll going off.

Using his semblance, his arm stretched its length to grab the device from across the room so he didn't have to move, seeing Blake's contact on the screen. To avoid worrying her, he only answered with audio, "Mom? I'm assuming you spoke to Azure?"

Her voice wasn't what he expected. He thought he would be hearing Yang angry in the background, which he could so just another Monday when it came to his little sister, but Blake, his normally calm collected mom who was always on top of things with her kids and rarely exposed them to her worry, sounded like she might break into destress any moment, "Bao, where is your sister right now?"

Her tone was unsettling. In his life, he had never really heard her this worried before. Well, he had heard her slightly concerned when Azure had her first heat not only a year early at seventeen but in the winter rather than spring but this was not a worry based on confusion for answers for her baby girl. This was a worry based on fear. It was easily enough to kick in his own concern and he sat up quickly, "Which one? Mao? Azure?"

Blake was impatient, "Please we both know if I was looking for Mao you would know. I've been trying to call Azure back for almost an hour now but I keep getting a disconnected tone. Where is she?"

Mao was listening, pulling herself together as her ears flicked and she sat up, brows furrowed. Bao switched it to speaker and held it out as Mao spoke, "A disconnected tone? But she's literally across the street… you spoke to her?"

Blake sighed, fusing at Yang in the background as their mother was clearly angry and not holding her tongue about it, "Yang! Please stop, there are more important things right now than being mad at her! Mao, she hung up on us after your mother upset her before I could really talk to her. I'm worried. You know she makes rash decisions when she gets upset. I need to know she is actually ok."

Mao got up, throwing on clothing and grabbing her coat. Before she could respond, her eyes caught sight of Azure in the alley next to her inn, her growl rolling from her quickly, "Mom. We will call you right back. We are going to go check in. Promise you'll hear from us soon. Go handle Mother."

Blake let out a sigh of a bit of relief and they exchanged goodbyes before hanging up. Mao was already getting her boots on as Bao pulled together his attire, his sister rubbing off her wet face while her frown grew, "She is so dead when I get my hands on her."

He just hummed. He was no easier on Azure than Mao was but his aggressions tended to be more subtle than his firecracker of a twin. While Mao wasn't really like Yang, nor like Blake for that matter, she still had a very aggressively dominant alpha beast and a short temper on certain topics, especially Azure. Bao was much more reserved like Blake. Quiet unless he needed to be, calculative of a situation before rushing in, seeming passive unless he wasn't and easily pushed to be passionate about things if he cared enough. Their grandfather often joked that they were like night and day of one another though the twins never saw each other as opposites and more like compliments of each other.

As Azure closed her eyes and sunked in the toxic addiction into her lungs, her ears twitched. Eyes flew open but not fast enough as arms stretched out and snatched her up, holding her as she squirmed. Mao was seen soon as well with Bao coming closer, pulling his arms back into their natural length with her in his grip. Mao was practically shoving a finger into her chest making Azure growl and wince though her energy was never able to fight theirs, always falling short, "The hell did you do to your scroll Azure?! Mom called us extremely worried about you, you brat!"

Mao and Azure never got along ever since puberty. Mao often hated how Azure constantly tried to annoy their parents especially when Azure would make their mom in particular upset, the woman who could accept anything her children threw at her except Azure being purposely hurtful. The younger cat hissed, "I fucking snapped it! What are you gonna do about it?! Maybe if she believed in me more like you two she wouldn't be so damn worried!"

Mao's hands gripped into Azure's shirt, a dark snarl in her throat as her red eyes blazed, face looking her sister, "Fucking hell Azure! What, you think this is a damn game!? Faunus have been going fucking missing! People have been getting seriously hurt and robbed! My gir… ugh our teammates have been gone and unheard from for weeks! Mom loves you you little fucking shit! She's scared something is going to happen to you. Why don't you understand that!? And you fucking break the only device any of us can reach or find you with if something does happen!? Why are you always like this dammit!?"

Bao moved a hand to separate Mao off Azure who was growling intensely, clearly not responding well to this approach. He turned her to look at him, gently setting her to her feet and letting go, trying a different approach. As Mao seethed but stepped back as he moved her, he set a gentle but firm hand on Azure's shoulder, "Little Kitty, please understand. We are not even sure we can do this and we have more training than you. That's a fact not an insult. We are two years ahead of you. No one is trying to say you are weak but what you did has consequences and our mom is scared someone might try to hurt her children. She has called me and Mao every morning just to make sure we answer. She knows how dangerous these kinds of groups can be. She was once in the White Fang after all. You scared her."

She hated his way of talking. He was always either subtly dripping with his alpha energy or talking so gently she felt he was being condescending but still when he was calm, his alpha affected her energy and forced her to calm more. She huffed and looked away, not wanting to give in as she frowned, "Fine I'll get another one. Now can you two please leave me alone for fucks sake? I just woke up like an hour ago."

His eyes watched her carefully but when she didn't flex her energy again he let go. The twins could see a multitude of cigarette butts on the ground. She must have been out here since the call stress-smoking one after another. He forced himself not to scrunch his face at it, not wanting to risk setting off her easily triggered insecurities and rage, giving a light nod, "See that you at least let her know once you do. Until then, don't be surprised if we call in the mornings to get status when Mom calls us. And Azure?"

She moved only her eyes to look back at him, the red orbs bleeding back into ambers as he spoke, "Please tell her you are sorry, just this once? I know you hate feeling weak but Mom loves you more than you could ever know. You've been adored by her since the day you were born. We all have. It's very hard for her to know you could be in real danger. She isn't trying to be rude to you."

Azure growled lightly in her chest but when she didn't throw any retort he knew she accepted the request. The cat glanced at his twin who was still grumbling from deep inside and nodded his head back to their inn, "We should go before someone sees us here with her and we put her in more danger."

He headed for the street but turned back. Mao was staring down her little sister, Azure glaring back only now noticing the red around her eyes and other signs she had been crying today. Her expression gave confusion as Bao called back to Mao, "Come on. Leave her alone she gets it. Mom will be upset if you put her baby girl in more danger."

It miffed Azure to still be seen that way at nineteen years old but she was her parents' youngest girl and she had grown up very close to Blake until she wasn't. Mao grunted and snorted hot air out her nostrils in a display of power, though now that Azure had seen her face better it fell deftly between them as Mao followed their brother.

Azure hadn't seen Mao cry much if at all since her sister had grown and her alpha developed. It was such an unusual sight on her Azure wasn't sure how to feel about it. She knew it wasn't about her but then, Amethyst was still missing. Amethyst was probably the only one in all of team BAMM that Azure actually liked talking to. For an alpha, she was actually quite pleasant to be around most of the time. Her energy was disgustingly potent but her personality was docile, only flexing herself when she had to or when she and Mao were being what she assumed they thought was cute with each other.

She had to admit even she was concerned when Amethyst was suddenly not at school and Mao had become even harder to be around especially lately. Now she knew of course it was because her sister had no idea where her girlfriend was or if she was even ok but it must be finally breaking the strong cat down if she was crying enough to make her eyes puffy and stain her skin. Azure knew her sister had marked the beautiful siamese. She knew Mao had fought against being marked and that it had caused a bit of a spat between them just before Amethyst was gone for the mission. Beacon walls talked when they thought no one was listening.

Until now, Azure had taken a small amount of pleasure in something finally upsetting Mao. However, now that her own soul ached for someone so intensely, she felt a sway of sorrow for her sibling. How much pain was Mao actually in right now? She bet Mao wished she was at home, somewhere their Mom could reassure her or help with the complex feelings of her situation. Their mom was always amazing at getting them all through anything faunus related especially. She brought a new cigarette to her lips and lit it, taking a puff before holding it in and blowing it out slowly as she stared at their inn across the way.

She could see them in a window, Bao sitting on the scroll for a few moments before watching Mao pacing around. When it happened, Azure was surprised how much it hurt to watch her sister like this. She could see the blonde clearly snap, slumping back into whatever heartache had been put on hold to come deal with Azure. She could see Bao trying to help hold her. The way Mao's body was shaking and curling on itself, the way she was holding her face and her ears were flattened in pain, Azure gripped her chest.

It all only made her hate that she wasn't allowed to help even more, which was also a surprising thought to her. While they didn't like each other, Mao was still her sister and she still loved her. Seeing her hurting like that, truly hurting, was extremely painful in her heart, "You'll find her Mao… there's nothing you can't do when you set your mind on a goal. Hang in there."

—-

Lux was poking at his breakfast at a cafeteria table. It wasn't like the food was ever bad but with limited resources, it was just often repetitive dishes and usually included egg or potato, things that could be acquired in bulk, and the constant rotations of the same dishes just got disinteresting over time. Seasonings, while present were also few, so food tended to be just barely enticing especially when you have had it as often as he had. He never complained, glad they could feed people at all and care for all the wayward souls. In reality, all of the food was just bland to him now that he had tasted Azure, his inner beast wanting nothing else with little patience for anything if it wasn't her.

Across from him, River slid into the table with her own food and a mouse faunus buried in a computer. It got his attention well enough to give him an excuse to ignore the food. The mouse, known only to everyone by her hacker alias TUNN3L_R4T, was their specific assigned informations' specialist. Every partnership of recruiters and scouts had one. They all also tended to have a resource engineer who took care of and supplied needed gear and ammo too, completing the teams of four, an irony when you consider academies.

Tunnel fixed the glasses on her face, a round pair with tint in them to help her eyes staring at screens all her waking hours. She was about five foot one, scrawny with black hair that fell long around her face like curtains, hiding her, pale white skin from never seeing the sun, pink eyes and white mouse ears hidden in her black oversized hoodie and accompanied usually with a matching pair of black joggers and converse or slippers and sweats. She was rapidly typing, not even looking up as she mumbled, "Hi Lux. The potatoes again this morning huh?"

He just nodded. He couldn't recall ever seeing Tunnel with any food except cup noodles when she was in a groove in her lair like living quarters, a rare place to ever gain entry unless she needed to show you something too important. River of course was devouring her tray, never phased by flavors or repetitions as someone who had spent way too many years eating garbage to survive before Lyra found her, anything cooked and fresh better in her opinion. The lizard finished her food, pointing at Lux's plate, "Gonna eat that?"

He chuckled weakly, sliding his tray to her. As they sat there, his mind was wandering. Fingers reached to rub at the spot on her neck she wanted to mark, internally full of grief that it was bare and he made a quiet gruff huff at himself. Other than Tunnel's ear flicking at the sound, no one showed any notice though he could feel River watching him since she sat down. Before she could try to pry or he could try to distract her, the mouse perked up, "Oh!"

The two turned to her, the little sub faunus flinching from so much attention with a frown, fixing the glasses, "Ahem well. Look at this. Thow two cats? Bao and Mao Xiao Long. Top ranking fourth year Beacon students. Lineage of the heroes from the Salem War, Yang and Blake. They also appear to be of five children. The oldest sibling is a Beacon drop out living in Menagerie as a Huntress, Jin, with two younger siblings, a second year student girl, Azure, and a little preteen boy, Leo. The oldest is a dragon it seems while the twins and Azure are cats and the youngest is a lion, no school affiliations as of yet."

Azure's name made Lux flinch, doing his best to hide it though River had noticed. She didn't let on, making a mental note to report to Lyra, all of this making since quickly why they had smelled like a lingering scent on him. River had discovered the name of his kitten being smart enough to easily put the clues together. Bingo. More to report to Lyra. She leaned over to look at the screen, the parents, Jin, the twins, and Azure all had profile images due to being teachers and students having had ID images taken over time. River glanced at Lux before nudging Tunnel to get up. Scouts were usually not included in this part of the process anyway and it was never meant to be discussed openly like in the cafeteria.

"Well, let's go discuss this so I can make my next set of plans. Lux," River nodded his way.

Lux was getting an uneasy squirm in his beast, a feeling screaming to go find Azure, keep her away from River. While he fully believed in the cause, he wasn't sure she should throw away a future getting involved with all their mess and didn't want River to possibly drag her into anything but he couldn't follow them, watching as the two disappeared through the double doors. When they found their way into Tunnel's quarters, River sealed them in with the lock, a common behavior at this juncture of any of her recruiting affairs.

"What are Beacon students doing this far out looking into joining us? What's their school statuses?" River inquired.

Tunnel typed rapidly a bit then turned the computer more towards River, "Seems they are still enrolled. Either they left on a whim to come here or something deeper is going on. Worth investigating at any rate. Don't we have two other Beacon students in the block?"

The block. The name of the cells below the organization. It was secretive for many reasons between not causing a panic to hiding the existence that they even held any captives to better control who could get access and such. River was memorizing Azure's face, knowing she would need to if she was to speak to Lyra. She grinned brightly, "As a matter of fact, we do. Sneaky cats that we caught a while back."

Tunnel hummed, digging through her resources. Tunnel smirked, pulling up the team photo for Bao and Mao, "These are the cats in the block correct?"

River eyed the image. It was a hacked source image from team selection several years ago showing all four cats, a bit younger but clearly them. Bao, Amethyst, Mauve, and Mao, team BAMM. "Oh, Lyra is going to enjoy this break through."

Tunnel gave a thumbs up and then River's scroll buzzed as the image was sent to her with the rest of the data. River nodded, "Thanks Tunnel. I'll let you know if I need anything else. I'll get Coop to send you some noodles as thanks when I see him for ammo later."

Tunnel nodded, already moving on to her next tasks. They always had many faunus seeking them out. As an information specialist, she had to sift through possible candidates to not only find anyone worth contacting but to match her recruitment officer with those that would seem like good fits from the list. As Tunnel got back to work, River left the room.

Her mind was buzzing with so much new information. When she found Lyra, the snake was getting ready to head to the block, stopping with Rena, "Ah River, one moment."

She turned to Rena, "go on ahead. I'll meet you there."

The gorilla faunus with a massive muscle trait nodded, moving on past the two for the block. When they were alone, River bowed her head before speaking, "I have so much news ma'am."

With a gesture to continue from the snake, River pulled up her scroll, "So, the twin cats are currently enrolled, highly recommended fourth year Beacon students. Their profile isn't showing any mission assignments right now but they are not removed from enrollment, yet they are out here. No transfers for Haven either. On top of that, look at this."

She held up the picture of the team photo, Lyra clearly recognizing the siamese cats as two captives in her cells, her eyes gleaming with interest. She also recognized the names of the twins in question, bristling inside a bit with old burning hatred though it was subtle as it surfaced in a dangerous fake calm, "Interesting indeed. Send me that photo please."

Rive nodded, the snake's scroll buzzing upon receiving the image, "Also, I believe I know who Lux's kitten is ma'am."

Lyra watched as she scrolled down to the image of second year Azure Xiao Long, black cat ears clear on her head. Lyra remembered him mentioning the detail, her lips curling into a dark grin, "River dear… I think it's time we redirect your efforts to a… different recruit and put the twins on hold for now."

the lizard smiled, nodding. She knew without being told and zoomed in on Azure's photo, "Consider it done ma'am."

—-

Lyra met up with Rena in the block and went easily to Amethyst's cell with that vicious smile, "It's your lucky day my dear. You're next."

Amethyst had easily noticed people weren't coming back anymore once they left,a growl rumbling deeply in her chest to hide any worry plaguing her tired weak body. She wouldn't let herself seem afraid even if she was panicking inside. If she disappeared even if it was relocation, she might never see Mao or her brother again. The feelings swirled inside her insanely, hiding them well but barely holding it together inside, "You won't break me."

Lyra just chuckled, flexing those venomous fangs dripping with the toxic substance, "We shall see. Rena… today we take the kitty."