….
Kuro was a large individual, and most likely wouldn't be the first person you would have thought of if you asked to see an average man.
Repairman? Sure, but you wouldn't say it first out of the list. The sheer bulk put itself well to menial physical tasks, and his height was useful for repairing roofing, hanging signs, and the like.
Bartender? Kuro fit the description of the intimidating man serving your drinks at the bar. Mistletoe Horn was more a communal area for the town to meet up, as was its original purpose. If people cared to help out with the bare staples, food and drink were made when enough folk were around.
He just also happened to live over it, that's all.
…
"You're blocking the light, Kuro."
"Hôdė. Could you come to Mistletoe?"
The hoary woman watched him in disbelief. She tugged at her neck and muttered about having work to do.
"I'm too busy to have a mead night."
He chuckled at her assumption. This'll throw her a bit.
Kuro let more light in by leaning outside the door. "Got a new Faunus arrival. Want to meet them?" he asked.
Hôdė had already turned as soon as he had given her more light. She was tinkering with some new invention he didn't care that much about. Hôdė was tink-ing and bong-ing and squeaking little hinges and…
Basically if there was some kind of sound she could make with wedges of metal, she already or would make it.
Kuro combed his hair as he leaned by the door.
The racket slowed down. Kuro glanced down as a quiet hissing came from below. Hôdė had leaned a sliver out of the door and was watching him stand with a suspicious gaze.
"Are you… tricking me out?"
"No. You actually have to come to this."
She bit her lip, making her face look like a spotted heart. "Is this an official vassal request?"
Hôdė saw the gigantic man raise his brows a millimetre.
Sigh. "Fine, I'll go."
She slid on her garments and started walking towards the Mistletoe.
… Upon entry, she froze.
"Verdi! Come and look! It's Hôdė!"
Oh NOPE NOPE NOPE.
She wheeled around and stared in disbelief at Kuro.
"You tricked me!"
… "What's wrong? I told you this was a request from Vassal." he replied.
"T…then what are other people doing here?"
Silence slipped over his face.
Hôdė stared furiously at the other individuals there.
"We… are also here. Everyone Faunus was requested."
She blinked rapidly in a refusal to admit this made sense. Funnily enough, this excessive blinking would, if read out in Morse, say the following:
GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWA-
… "Did we give her a seizure?"
"When are we even starting?
"Kuro. Where's Vass-"
"Everyone present?" Kuro bellowed out.
Various calls of affirmation were thrown out. He nodded once, then went to open the door to head inside. "Good. We're all going to be-"
His words were cut off by the door opening up into his face.
"Hello, people. I have very very good news."
After a short pause for collective resting and warming up, Vassa leaned against the long counter and began to speak.
"The topics of our previous discussion were greatly exaggerated."
Kuro looked up at the woman now smiling at the front of their group.
You have gone insane.
A goggled man raised his hand. "You mean the letter."
"Yes, I mean the letter."
"The letter that went, forgive me if I'm wrong as it's been a few years… along the lines of-"
..
Kuro stared, and his hearing faded slowly.
Simple words, really. Everyone here knew it, and knew the impact of reading it:
"Your child is dead."
Ivaldi closed his mouth and stood still.
They all focused on Vaasa's still face as this was said. She gave no real indication that she heard them speaking, and just kept smiling.
"… That letter, you mean?"
…
…
…
"Yes. You all will allow me to explain this?" she asked around the .
The silence was apparently taken as a yes, and so she shouted up at the ceiling in a chastising manner.
"LUCILLE. GET DOWN HERE. WE HAVE GUESTS."
A quiet voice came from above and caused an audible crack to emanate from Kuro. "I'm tiiired. Go away."
Ivaldi let out a low whistling. "Wait here. Your daughter's a Faunus?"
"The girl we found outside town in the snow is a Faunus." Kuro corrected.
"The girl named Lucille that you found outside our town is a Faunus?" Hôdė muttered.
Kuro closed his eyes slowly. "People can have similar names."
"Shut up, man. You said that name was unique. You told me yourself."
… I did. It is a unique name.
He idly tapped a small scar on his arm, waiting for this moment to end.
"-and the same semblance." Vassa noted.
Verdi tried to get back to what they had been convened for. "Vassal. How is your daughter a Faunus? She didn't show any signs before, and they can't just… appear like that."
"Butterfly Faunus."
Winged? That was rare, and they all could count on one hand how many winged Faunus they collectively knew of.
One.
…
"You're counting her pre-adulthood as a chrysalis stage?"
"Thank you, Ivaldi. Good to see someone's gotten the idea fast."
Faces started to turn towards him. "…Coincidence?"
"She does have a very solid point here, Kuro."
Hôdė, shut up.
"-and she doesn't remember me."
He sighed. "This is all… a very unlikely series of events?"
Vassa raised her finger with a smug look of victory.
"She called me Vassal. Nobody else knows to call me that but… uh, let's see…"
She lightly gestured towards the small group currently in the Mistletoe Horn.
The evidence was rather overwhelming for this theory.
"What we should be asking today is why we were lied to about her death."
…
…
…
"After you discuss the main reason we all actually came here."
….
Ah… yes, that.
Vassa chose to excuse herself from the room and walk to the stairwell.
"Lucille. Come down, please."
She was rather pleased that she was able to say this again. The words floated along until her daughter gave the usual unwilling response.
The door swung open with the top slightly visible from where she stood. Feet walked reluctantly with clear intent to lengthen this encounter.
A loud impact came after 6 steps and she flinched before starting to swiftly move forward. Lucille had tripped on the slight edge of a floorboard and was falling to the floor with a surprised look straight at her.
Then the lights flashed twice and Vassa had to stop moving for fear of making things worse.
"Are you okay?" she called out, blinking rapidly.
…
…
"Sorry."
Vassa groaned softly. "Don't be sorry, be careful. Now, do you need help getting-"
…"-up?"
Lucille had escaped, most likely back to her room.
"You disobedient girl. You somehow got even worse."
"Come on now." she asked her, with no minor annoyance. Suspecting that this would just need to happen later in the week, Vassa turned around-
…
"When did you get down there!?" she demanded.
Lucille mumbled "Don't be sorry, be careful."
… Vassa didn't question it much and just grasped the banister. Her feet clumped down, stubbornly refusing to be quiet. They walked in a line and Vassa leaned against the door with a foot. "On you go, Lucille. Everyone already knows you."
As her daughter went in, Vassa blinked, and a gust of wind whipped her hair back in a flurry.
The room was teetering on the edge of armed combat in about the tenth of a second.
"LUCILLE. Drop. The. Staff."
"Please drop it."
"GIRL. What happened to you?!"
"Interesting power application. You used the air as an extension to your arm."
….
Lucille spoke with a determined whisper.
"I'm not going to let this go."
… the man, her current enemy, appeared to be rather upset at her.
She tightened her grip, and prepared her attack.
"Name?"
His face split open. Fangs. Scales. Clearly a lizard.
He speaks, too. Clearly an enemy.
"Verdi. I'm a reptilian Faunus."
She paused at that.
"Is this an attempt to break the tension?" she asked.
"It is if you want it to be. Are you afraid of me?"
…
…
Vassa finally started to react. "Hold it, Verdi. We need to regulate this. Firstly, everyone please explain what they are, and how we knew her. Lucille, I would like you to not use your ability on us."
The goggled man went first, and repeated his earlier words. "I'm Verdi. I am a reptilian faunus. I… was basically your cool adult friend."
"Ivaldi. Mammalian Faunus. Otter. I helped teach you."
…
Kuro went over to his friend in the corner. "Hôdė. This is you now."
…
"Hôdė. Hoary bat. Older sibling."
"Hôdė."
"It was worth a shot." she grumbled. "You hid in my house when these folks were too much."
…
Everyone went silent for an awkward minute.
Heads turned towards the man who slumped down into a chair.
"Kuro. Bear Faunus."
….
"I was your father."
She nodded once. His eyes widened slightly in response.
Lucille gestured in the vague direction of Verdi. "So… this… person here is… a friend."
The man in question pulled at his goggles and replied in a light voice. "I would like to think I'm still a friend to you."
… Hmm. This may still be useful.
"Do you know anyone b-"
"-Vassa. I'm human. I am your mother."
"Now, are you going to explain why you tried to attack a person, Lucille?"
…
Seconds ticked past. She mumbled under her breath, then straightened up to speak. Her staff was gesturing at the ready.
"Verdi Lizard. Do you serve anyone under the name of Taurus, Tauris, Taeuru, or any person with this sort of name?"
Her question led to a low fire of hissing.
Are you… laughing?
The lizard settled down before they responded. "No. I don't."
"Are you aware of his existence? This name has a meaning to you?"
…
…
…
They know.
They all know.
"Answer me."
A quick spinning of three fingers started up a low vortex around her. It would be rather simple to just apply some materialised frost and inflict a rapid set of hailstones to forcibly obtain a reply.
Or I could just freeze them into a block. That works too.
The temperature fell by minute degrees.
They wouldn't even know what had happened until they were encased in ic-
What happened next was a rather frighteningly competent manoeuvre by the quintet of townspeople.
It began with water being flung at her face by the otter. She flinched for a second.
The bat in the corner was the most engaged they'd been and called out. "Revolving current at foot height."
The lizard added onto the statement.
"Ice is most likely in order to encase herself."
The bear grabbed her empty arm.
Her staff was removed from her other hand, harrowed with her great reluctance.
What?
What just happened?
"How did you do this?" she questioned them.
Can I get out of he-
The man holding her arm sighed. He was sighing a lot recently. "You tried this before."
… "I don't know you. You could just be lying to trick me. I cannot trust that you all aren't against me."
Vassal sat down with her staff. "Lucille. What happened to you?"
….
Lucille watched her fingers roll in sequence along her staff.
You're hurt. Just let me talk to you.
"Lucille."
Vassa caught her eyes for a moment. She quit her idle noise and started to question Lucille further.
She was rather rudely interrupted by the staff falling to the floor and skittering to her daughter's hand.
"Stop. I just want to know anything current about him. Tell me everything, then I will leave."
…
Vassa saw the others glancing around. She had a bet that they all had the same basic thought.
"Who, exactly?"
… "Taurus. Tauris. Any name you know him by. Do you have any information on where they are?"
"I don't keep tabs on the locations of everyone that I am ever asked about, Lucille. You might be thinking of the wrong person. Are you sure they even-"
Lucille gave a quiet groan and went limp in annoyance. "Do they even exist? Are you going to say I made them up or something?"
This… just got very close into dicey territory…
"It depends. Are you looking for a widely hated man wanted for a wide variety of serious criminal charges?"
"Yes, obviously. Now, can you tell me where they were last known to exist?"
…
Oh. That really didn't backfire.
"Lucille. What will you do if you find them?" Kuro asked.
…
…
"I'll kill them, obviously." Lucille said, looking confused.
…
….