Chapter 106 – Menagerie – Finding Their Feet

Year 74VE, March

Cover Art by Mi Chumi

Breakwater Conference Room

It was a measure of how the center of gravity had shifted in Menagerie that Chieftain Perine Ursulus chose to hold strategy sessions in Breakwater's conference rooms instead of in his own offices, despite his increasing reliance on a cane and motorized transport to get around. For their part, Breakwater ensured he had VIP treatment via Bullhead and Zipper. Where five years ago, public opinion on Chief Ursulus was a matter of fond nostalgia and goodwill by inertia for his past rule, now he was becoming a revered figure among most of the population of Menagerie for the dramatic changes they were seeing.

As the elder bear faunus eased himself into the chair at the head of the conference table with a grunt and the sound of popping joints, he managed a muttered thanks for the cup of coffee that a young mariner brought him before nodding to the middle-aged faunus seated nearby, who had also arrived early for the meeting.

"Anything bad I should prepare myself for?" he asked the head of Menagerie's Merchant Marine carefully.

Admiral Isoro shook his head with a smile. "Nothing major that I'm aware of, and I think Nagata would already be crying on your doorstep if one of his students had gotten hurt."

Ursulus coughed a laugh, and saw the man in question entering the room with Engineer Roberts, who'd taken on the role of Civil Corp manager. He lifted an eyebrow in Nagata's direction.

"He isn't wrong, Urs." Nagata had apparently overheard the comment, and eased around to take a seat as well. He accepted the proffered cup of coffee, withdrew a flask, and added a splash of amber liquid.

Ursulus eyeballed the mug, but opted not to comment. "No, I suppose he ain't. So, I'm not going to need to up my heart meds and get another bitching out by my personal physician?"

Director Nagata smiled thinly. "Don't think so, unless Lionheart's been keeping secrets."

The three chatted a bit longer while Roberts reviewed something on his scroll, since they were still a few minutes early, until Cove's Headmaster Garek Grae-Lumerent, and Councilwoman Keleme Moaga joined them. Nagata jabbed at his scroll, and a central screen flickered to life, resolving quickly into the faces of Headmaster Lionheart, Ghira Belladonna, and aquatic Councilman Clarity Tahiri.

"How are things among the heathens, Leo? Ghira?"

Lionheart laughed, the corners of his eyes wrinkling. " Bearable ," Ursulus winced at the pun, even as Lionheart's mirth eased. "But the pressures are increasing."

Ghira was less amused. "Things are getting rough in the lower levels of Mistral City. Two more faunus-owned businesses were torched last week. I hear some human supremacists were found brutally beaten afterward.

Lionheart's mirth evaporated. "I've been pushing the Mistral Council, but with a few exceptions, they are choosing to believe that it's all 'merely miscreants and outliers'." Ghira scoffed at that and then muted his microphone and camera as Lionheart continued. "Things are going to become increasingly uncomfortable for Faunus in Mistral City, though I'm told it's less problematic still in Argus and some of the southern Towns."

Ghira unmuted. "That's consistent with what we're finding. Argesian authorities have been more aggressive in cracking down on supremacists and following up on attacks than in Mistral City. In Southern Mistral, rumor is that a human supremacist cell was found to have been attacked and slaughtered by some sort of vigilante group." He spared a glance toward Garek through the screen, and found the Headmaster / Huntsman's face unreadable. He shrugged. "As far as I can tell, it wasn't faunus who did that one, and they didn't leave any witnesses."

"That's a mixed bag," Ursulus mused. He turned to the Headmaster. "Are things going to blow up when you relocate, Leo?"

Lionheart frowned and scratched his head. "No more than they would if I stayed and took a stand for Faunus. And you can damn well bet I would." He lowered his voice. "Vermillion will keep things in hand at Haven after I've made the move." There were nods around the table, realizing that they'd still have a faunus-friendly leader at Haven.

"Alright then," Ursulus continued smoothly, "let's move on to local business. How are things looking, Admiral?"

The weathered but hale head of Menagerie's ad-hoc armed forces nodded once, sharply. "We've finished refitting the ships we captured or salvaged from the Black Bones back last year. On top of our existing patrol boats, that gives us a fast coastal defense ship which we've renamed Panzoa's Hand," that got a few chuckles around the table, "plus a cargo freighter that we repurposed as a mobile bullhead dock, and three additional recon vessels. I've set the recon ships on regular patrol between Kuo and Atlantia Island, with Panzoa's Hand and our mobile dock now based semipermanently around our port-in-progress. That's cut down on pirate and privateer attacks on shipping between here and Lushu by over half."

Ursulus whistled. "That's very good news."

"It'll be even better when the port at Atlantia is completely done so we can resupply those ships and provide shore leave there instead of having to return to Kuo. When that happens, we can extend our patrols all the way to the Anima coast."

Ursulus gave a cold smile. "Leo, has Mistral made any noises about Atlantia Island, or our expanded fleet?"

The lion faunus shook his head. "Not that I've heard. The most I've seen so far is business interests complaining to the Mistral Council about delayed cargo to or from Menagerie, but that's Atlas' baby, not ours. And of course, there's the increasing tensions between humans and faunus. But Mistral isn't a naval power, and they've never claimed Atlantia."

"Alright. Looks like we're continuing to get breathing room there, then." He turned to Roberts. "How is the work at Port Atlantia going?"

"Well…"

Port Atlantia

One week prior…

Erik Skye, one-time contract miner at Gehen Mining Camp #5 in Solitas and now one of a scattering of humans living in Menagerie, leaned on his shovel. He'd spent the last week becoming very acquainted with that shovel, feeding an endless supply of dry mix into a rotating drum, to keep his fellow workers supplied with grout. The wall they were building was four interlocked blocks thick with rebar reinforcement, anchored deep into a solid footing. When complete, and the grout cured, it would be as solid as stone, hopefully proof against any larger Grimm that might wander by, so that simple militia could hold them off long enough for Huntsmen to arrive.

He'd become acquainted with a lot of things during the last week. The tropical heat. The open skies. The salt air.

The roars of Grimm.

That one had been difficult to come to terms with.

He glanced up at the wooden palisade wall, where it was still visible behind the sturdier coracrete one that he and his fellow laborers were constructing. Well, not at the palisade itself, but at the men and women manning it. Two faunus Huntsmen from Team SMOK, one with iridescent feathers in his hair, and a second with small goat horns, stood among a dozen Menagerie Militia wearing black and gray uniforms and bearing rifles. All of them were generally chatting while they peered across the cleared strip of land into the tropical forest beyond. There were two more members of Team SMOK napping, waiting for their shift of guard duty. He'd been told the team was halfway through a two-week rotation here.

He'd only been here a few hours before the first Grimm attack had come, and since the frequency of Grimm had gradually slowed , but never stopped. Several times day or night, there'd come the roar or screech of Grimm, and Team SMOK's on-duty duo would leap over the wall and into action, as the militia provided cover fire.

He never saw the battle, but he damn well heard it. Either from here, or from his cot in the bunkhouse.

The first time, the sounds of it had iced him to the bones.

Now… almost a week later, it barely registered.

Grimm arrived.

Huntsmen and Militia responded.

Grimm died, leaving nothing behind.

Only once early on had the number or size of Grimm required the security detail to muster the off-shift pair of Huntsmen as well, and that time a couple of merchant marines had ordered him and the other laborers to gather on the makeshift pier for possible evacuation. But in the end, evacuation hadn't been necessary, though it had been a terrifying hour or so.

And even that time, Team SMOK had returned to their posts smiling, laughing, and slapping each other on the back.

Huntsmen are insane, Eric Skye had realized at that moment.

. . .

It had gotten to the point where, during the most recent attack, he'd paused shoveling dry mix into the rotating drum, and had taken a moment to glance around at the men and women working beside him, laying coracrete blocks on the previous row, inserting rebar reinforcement, or spreading a layer of grout on recently laid blocks.

Most of them were recent immigrants like himself. A few were faunus he knew from Gehen, people he could call friends. He'd noted that most of the laborers hadn't even stopped working this time, even as the howls of Grimm filtered over the palisade wall a few yards away.

Two had glanced up toward the palisade, then met his eyes with a shrug.

And then had gone back to their tasks.

Huntsmen are insane, he thought, and thank the gods for it.

Breakwater Conference Room

"Well… as far as Port Atlantia goes, construction is on schedule," Roberts continued. He'd become the coordinator of all of the expansion work, prioritizing raw material allocations and verifying the work was being done per specifications. "Meaning slow but steady. "

"No way we can speed up the dock upgrade?" Admiral Isoro asked.

"Not unless you want shore leave to have a ringside seat of Grimm."

"Hmph. Alright. Where does that leave us?"

Roberts consulted his scroll. "The initial log palisade walls are being gradually replaced with coracrete, and the anti-Grimm shelter is next. Once we have those in place, we'll shift to the permanent pier and initial housing. Should have the port fully functional by mid-year."

"How are the Huntsmen holding up?" Ursulus asked, gesturing to the Director of Breakwater.

Nagata had been flipping through his own scroll, and glanced up. "We've been rotating a team through every two weeks so they don't burn out." He grimaced. "From what they tell me, it's not that dangerous, but having to sleep in two-man shifts wears them out. Wish we had two teams onsite." He glanced around. "But we can't afford that, not this year." He glanced down again. "Which leads me to the other problem I'm running into. I've got another dozen Breakwater applicants over the last three weeks from immigrants and refugee families. Range of ages, some in their twenties . Having a hard time figuring out how to handle the older ones, now that we're actually filling up classes with on-level ages."

Lionheart frowned in thought. "How about a crash course with one of the existing teams, then weekend classes and an apprentice program?"

"The ones with Aura unlocked and some training, that will work, but Leo, I'm getting people applying who are past Academy age, with no training and no Aura."

The entire room considered that.

"Are we at a point where we can turn them away?" Leo ventured.

"Did you hear what I said about Port Atlantia? No. No, we aren't. I just need to figure out how to train them or find out they can't be trained."

Garek spoke up. "Why not just… stick them in with the first years? Put them through all four years of Academy or advance them as they get better."

Lionheart blinked at his former student. "Well... that's not… something the Academies do… but…"

"But we aren't an Academy…" Nagata replied with a laugh. "And even when we are, why should we play by their rules?" He looked the question at Lionheart, who finally nodded. "Alright, I'll try to put them in their own teams, and I'll have to keep the kids from teasing them for being 'oldsters', but we'll give it a try."

Ursulus nodded, glad the others were able to handle that without him. "Anything else I need to know about for Breakwater?"

"I'd like a bigger budget for-"

Ursulus laughed. "Wouldn't we all . Any extra lien right now is going to stockpile Dust for later, construction or repurposing space for housing immigrants, and materials for the expansion of Breakwater. Speaking of which, Roberts, you still think you can do the Breakwater work without having to shut down the school?"

"Give me a two-week break, and I'll have the roof lift done, the 2nd Floor skeletoned, and temporary construction stairwells installed. After that, we can finish it out while the school keeps humming without interfering with your precious younglings."

"Except for the noise," Garek corrected.

Roberts rolled his eyes. "Except for the noise. We'll start with the 2nd Floor of the Dorms, then expand the classrooms to a second floor."

Ursulus turned to Nagata and Grae. "And on that note, how are you fixed for space and staff?"

Nagata shrugged. "We've had to move a lot of stuff around, and we're encouraging Combat-School aged students to live off-campus if possible to maximize space for Academy housing and we're using a few of the future Administrative areas as classrooms in the short term for overflow and one of the classes is being taught in the cafeteria. We'll live."

Ursulus grunted, then turned to Garek. "Speaking of overflow, how are the Rose Xiao-Long kids settling in?"

Cover Combat Preschool

Two weeks prior…

"But why can't we just sit in on your classes?" Yang complained as they walked through the halls of the administrative building. They'd just finished breakfast and dad had run off to teach real Combat School students! She and Ruby, with brand new backpacks full of school supplies in her case, and full of Zwei in Ruby's case., were following mom to wherever the heck it was they were going. "Or you could, like, send us to Kuroyuri and we could train with Raven!"

She saw, out of her peripheral vision, Ruby's eyes go as big as saucers and she started making frantic motions of 'ohgodsnopleaseno'. Well crap, Ruby's not on board.

"Because, ba-" at Yang's look, her mom corrected herself. "Because Yang ," she said carefully. "Unless you really really want to stay in Kuroyuri full time." And from the look on her mom's face, that idea ate at her insides, "while Ruby stays here, then that won't work. Raven's not going to agree to sending you back here every day."

Yang huffed. It wasn't fair at all. Me and Ruby both have our Auras unlocked. We should be able to go ahead and start Combat School. Heck, I'm probably already better than most of those kids. Why I gotta wait until fall of next year!?

But it was true. Ruby obviously didn't really like the idea of training with Yang's other mom. Raven, if Yang was honest, was kinda scary, and Ruby didn't deal well with her personality and stuff.

"So what then?"

"Well, we are going to make a special program, just for you and Ruby and a few other kids that are a bit young, but have Aura and Semblance unlocked. And yes, I will be teaching part of that."

Ruby's silver eyes nearly glowed, and Yang felt her spirits lift too. Well, that was way different. She could handle that!

And then they reached a door. The sign on it proclaimed it as Aux-something-ary Office #105. Summer opened the door.

And inside was-

"Blakey!" Yang yelled, and barrelled forward.

The look on her friend's face was priceless. For almost a year now, they'd chatted online during Pyrrha's group call, and had even talked a few times, though they hadn't had a whole lot in common except for both being friends of friends. But she was at least a friendly face.

Okay, right now she was a shocked and kinda terrified face, but she was at least familiar!

"Yang!" Summer cried from the doorway, laughing. "Dial it back a little, hon."

And then Yang ran into someone who was very much not Blake Belladonna, and bounced backward with a flash of Aura onto her butt.

Behind her, she heard Ruby giggle, and started to get a little mad. She looked up and..

Suddenly Blake had gotten a lot bigger. No she was like twice as tall. And she had earrings in her ears. And she had boobs! And… wait…

Oh yeah, that's Mrs. Belladonna.

And that realization took all the anger away. "Oops." She glanced over to see Blake peeking out from behind her mom, the shock starting to fade into something closer to quiet amusement. Alright, fine. I deserved that I guess. "Uh… hey Blakey."

"Hey Yang…" Blake said evenly, starting to smile, thankfully. "It's… good to see you?"

"Heh. You know it!" Yang looked up to see Blake's mom and her mom traded some kinda look.

"Kali, how have you been?"

"Fine, Summer. A little worn out, but with the new crop of teachers arriving, I'm hoping to catch up on sleep a little."

"Mom's the best Faunus History teacher ever," Blake said quietly from behind her.

"Cool…" Yang hazarded. She wasn' sure what Faunus History Class was, but… if Blake said it was cool, then sure.

"That's the plan," Summer agreed. "And this is Ruby. She just unlocked her Aura and Semblance as well."

"Oh dear," Kali said, but she looked like she was about to giggle. "You do have your hands full."

Her mom rolled her eyes. Both eyes, which was just freaking awesome. She could see Kali glance at her new eye a few times, but the woman didn't say anything about them. And Blake didn't say anything either, though Yang caught her almost staring a couple times.

"Well, shall we get to it?" Summer asked, waving toward the chairs. "Have you talked to Mrs. Plum and Garek?"

Kali nodded. "Girls, why don't you have a seat, and we'll go over the details with you. Alright?"

There was a sudden flurry of motion. "No! Bad Zwei! Bad!" and a ball of fur on four stubby legs was rocketing across the floor.

Annnnd Yang's friend Blake was on top of a desk on all fours, eyes wide and face pale.

Uh oh. "Zwei! No!" Yang yelled, and her sister, apparently misinterpreting her movement as being about to do something bad to her puppy, accidentally activated Petal Burst.

"Oh crap!" There was a sudden red blur, a short yip, and a solid thud as Ruby, with an armload of Zwei, slammed into the opposite wall amid a cloud of rose petals. "Ow…" Ruby managed before descending into a fit of giggles because Zwei was attempting to lick her face.

"I say again, oh dear," Kali managed.

"You can say that again, sister."

"Well… alright. Is… um… Zwei part of the package because… Blake had a bad experience with a dog when she was young. She's very skittish around them."

"Oh…"

Her sister started freaking out, jabbering. She did that when she was freaked out. "Zwei will be on his bestest behavior! I promise! We can put him in his harness or we can put a crate and a bed in here or maybe a spot where we can put his leash or make a doggy hotel or-"

"It's alright baby, we'll figure something out. Right Kali?"

Kali glanced between the three, and went over and had a few quiet words with her daughter, who eventually nodded. "Yes, it seems we will. Now, where were we?"

. . .

It only took a few minutes to set up a temporary refuge for Zwei, which consisted of her sister's backpack with her red cloak wadded up as a sort of bed, and a temporary leash to prevent him from wandering too far. He whined a little at first, but the cape smelled like Ruby, so he calmed down after a bit.

Hope he doesn't pee on it. Though… Yang smirked, that would be kinda funny.

"Yang, are you paying attention?"

"Oh! Sorry mom."

"As I was saying, you'll be coming here every morning for classroom studies. Basically all the stuff you'll have missed in regular school."

Ugh.

"And then in the afternoon, one of us will take you out to the courtyards and we'll focus on sparring, Aura, and Semblance."

Okay, not so bad. She met Ruby's gaze, and her sister was smiling. She checked out Blake as well, but the faunus girl wasn't showing much of any expression, other than her ears twitching sporadically and glancing over to make sure Zwei was still where he was supposed to be.

Geeez, it's just a little puppy. Not like he's gonna eat her.

"Starting tomorrow morning, we've hired a tutor from Kuo to come here, but today we'll just play it by ear. Afternoons, it will be me, Kali, Mrs. Plum, or your dad, depending on what the focus will be that day and what our class schedule looks like.

"Okay!"

"Yeah!"

Blake just nodded.

Weird. I mean… she was always chatty in the… chat. I even called her Chatcat a few times, and she did the whole laugh emoji thing. And now she's all… weird and stuff.

"Now, Kali and I are going to have a quick chat, so you girls can have a few minutes to relax. Alright? We'll be just outside."

. . .

"So… uh… Blake? Everything okay?"

The faunus girl's ears drooped slightly. "Um… yeahhhh?"

"It's just that… you know.. you've been awful quiet."

Blake's Amber eyes drifted off to the left, where Zwei was, then to Ruby, who had hopped up and was heading that way to check on him, and then back to Yang's face. "I'm just… a little overwhelmed? I mean… I'm used to… White Fang chaos but… well I always knew dad was nearby, and he's not here."

Ohhhh…. Now that. That Yang could understand. When mom had disappeared, and dad had gotten all sad, it had felt like… like she was in a wagon rolling downhill and nobody had been steering. Yeah. It had been hard. She'd bucked up, cause Ruby had needed her, but she remembered how that had felt.

It had sucked. She nodded in sympathy.

"So yeah, it's all been kinda weird, and I feel off-balance and…" her amber eyes flicked over toward Ruby again. "Well I don't really like dogs."

"Don't sweat it, my friend. I'll keep Zwei out of your hair. He's a big ole fluffy nothing anyway, promise." Yang leaned over, and for the first time in her life, gave her internet friend a real-world side-hug. "And when you've got Yang Xiao-Long watching your back, you've got nothin' to worry about!"

"Mommmmmm! Zwei peed on my cloak!" Ruby screamed from the other side of the room. "Bad Zwei!"

Blake, ears straight up, was suddenly clinging to Yang and shaking. Yang found herself patting her friend on the back, and laughing her butt off.

Perfect.

Breakwater Conference Room

"Oh a few hitches here and there, but they're settling in. I think Yang and Kali's daughter, Blake, are helping take some of the jitters out of the whole relocation. They've apparently been chatting online for months off and on."

"Good. Good. And are the new teachers picking up their share of the load?"

Garek nodded. "Yes, they are. They sent us good people, Chief."

Ursulus shook his head in wonder. "Damn amazing. Someone didn't try to screw us over?"

Garek laughed. "No, even the Atlas loaner, Thorvus Storm. He's a hell of a Mechashift theorist. Mort gave him the stink eye for the first week, until Storm took him out and got him drunk and they traded war stories."

Ursulus frowned at the Atlesian's mention. The truth was, if there had been anyone he would have rejected out of hand, it would have been the loaned instructor from Atlas. But Lionheart had assured him that Instructor Storm wasn't some Atlesian spy, and would be a significant asset to the school.

And they couldn't afford to turn away manpower.

But it was only a matter of time before they did get a spy, hell a dozen spies, embedded with all the faunus and smattering of humans pouring into Menagerie. He'd been struggling with that fact for weeks now. That they couldn't just… lock down the island, quarantine everyone who came in until they were sure they weren't here to destroy or thwart what he had spent a lifetime dreaming of, and then had given up on, and now was seeing blossom before his very eyes.

Menagerie, a Kingdom, whether or not those bastards in Solitas, Anima, or Sanus wanted to accept or admit it.

He sighed. "So, we don't have to worry about Cove staffing?"

"Nope, I think they're gonna work out fine. In fact, I was able to do some "Team Building" with them last Saturday."

The Black Rack

Saturday night prior…

"You sure this is the right place?" Taiyang Xiao-Long asked his nominal boss carefully. "Doesn't even look like a bar from the outside."

The neighborhood was relatively low-rent, and the building matched it. It was a low wooden structure on the side of a slope that looked pretty much like all the other buildings they'd passed. The entrance was nondescript, with blacked out windows. There wasn't a sign saying "Open" or even "Closed" and there weren't any hours posted, either. The only indication of it being any different from any of the other houses was a huge set of antlers mounted above the door, painted pitch black.

Garek shrugged, "It's the address they gave me." He hoped this wasn't some elaborate hazing of the Headmaster. He saw Summer and Selene share a look, and sighed. "Alright, here goes." He had to stop himself from knocking on the door, and instead just turned the knob and pushed it open.

Inside was… thank the gods, a pub. Dimly lit. Old and worn furnishings. The Bartender was very clearly a bat faunus and gave them a welcome nod as they entered.

Garek allowed his eyes to adjust as he took in the scenery. A dozen patrons were scattered along the bar and a few ratty sofas and chairs, except for one corner which was packed. A series of smaller tables in the rear corner had been pushed together, and he could see Kali Belladonna, Salt Boudda, Daisy Alenta, and Mort Gangurru there, sitting with the newly minted staff of Cove Combat School, Storm Thorvus, Aisha Verdant, Kent Azulent, and Kirobara Watan. The walls were covered with various types of ruminant horns and antlers.

He shook his head, making his way over to the group, Selene, Summer, and Taiyang in tow. As he reached the table, he addressed Storm. "How the hell did you find this place?"

"Ask him," the Atlesian thumbed toward Salt Boudda.

The alligator faunus shrugged. "Used to be my hangout. Also Mort used to come here and get blackout drunk, when he still drank like he was trying to kill himself."

"Had a reason to drink like that, back then," the injured former Huntsman growled, but he wasn't angry.

"Don't we all," Daisy replied, rolling her eyes.

"Speak for yourself," Mort said with a grin and raising his glass. "I'm doing damn fine, these days."

There were a quad of seats left open for them, and the newcomers eased down into them.

Garek felt suddenly self-conscious. "So… uh… hi everyone?"

Thorvus Storm gave him a look. "Damn, youngster, you really don't have any idea what you are doing…"

"That is not atypical," Selene laid her hand on Garek's shoulder to take the sting out with a soft smile.

She received a laugh and a nudge from Summer. "Sister, that's men in general."

Taiyang crossed his arms. "Hey!"

"Perhaps, but my Garek will find his feet soon enough," Selene finished, and got an eye roll in response.

"Only one rule, Grae" Thorvus interrupted. "We don't talk shop unless one of us initiates it, got it? You being the boss, if you start the conversation, it'll feel like you're making us work after hours."

"Shit."

"Damn right."

"Alright, deal."

Salt nodded at the exchange between the two, considering the matter resolved. He raised his voice. "Roof, another round for the table!" Voice lowered. "What are you four having?

"Wine. Mistralian red if possible? For Summer and myself."

"A bock, if they have one. Or a lager," Garek looked a question at Taiyang.

"I'll have an ale, for starters," the blond man replied.

Salt nodded. "Roof! A glass of the house red for the ladies, and a Twisted Antler for my eared friend, and an MPA for blondie!"

They watched the bartender nod and begin filling glasses. Garek watched the blonde huntsman's eyes roam over the room. The walls were decorated with animal horns of various types. One rather large specimen was mounted right above Daisy's head, and he saw Tai's face twisting as he glanced between the wall decoration and the blond-haired Huntress.

And apparently Summer had seen his expression as well. "Oh poop. Go ahead , get it out, Tai."

"I can't help it…." The muscular man said in a slightly strained voice.

Right across from him, Daisy sighed. "It happens every damn time we invite someone new. Say the words."

Tai slumped. " Nice rack ," he muttered, though it was clear the conversation had made it more of a requirement than as funny as he'd wanted it to be.

Daisy smirked. "Yeah, well my eyes are down here ."

Summer snorted, and punched her husband in the arm, even as Selene laughed in disbelief. "Gods, Summer, your husband is as juvenile as mine."

"It's all men," Summer laughed.

"I am not affiliated with them," Salt groused.

" Most men," Daisy agreed. "Salt's cool."

Garek just laughed.

"See," Storm nodded, taking off his glasses and polishing the lenses. "told you the boss was gonna be okay."

. . .

"So, there I was, up late grading papers, right?"

It had been two hours, and the Cove / Breakwater staffers, if they could be generously called that, were well and truly lubricated. Which meant that Taiyang had decided it was time to tell stories…

"…and then Qrow comes into the house with this wild look on his face," he glanced to the side to find Summer and Selene whispering to each other with grins. "And Qrow says, he says, ' Hey Tai, uh… have you seen… uh… your car's new Von Dutch detailing?' and I was like 'Oh hell, where are the kids?"

"Oh no…"

"Oh yeah. Turns out Yang had discovered that a sharp nail would peel a nice thin line of paint off the car, and had decided to 'decorate' it for me. Ruby, our youngest, was critiquing her work."

"Oh gods."

Tai laughed, "Cost us 500 lien to fix that one. You might say we had a few "Sharp Words" with Yang about where and when it was okay to practice art." There were groans all around. "What?!"

Selene glanced over at her husband and realized he was being quiet. "Is something wrong, love?"

"Eh? Oh… just thinking about Rhodes. He'd love this. I hope he's doing okay in Atlas."

. . .

Thousands of miles away, in an opulent bedroom that was not his own, Huntsman Rhodes was, in fact, doing quite okay .

Breakwater Conference Room

"And besides the staffing, how is Cove doing, Grae?"

"Full classes, though I'm starting to see attrition," Garek gave Nagata a look, and got a smug smile in return, "I'd say every week we lose a few, and gain a few fresh off the boat." He shrugged. "It's working," he quirked a grin. "Thanks to Selene."

"It's nice to have your right-hand man be your right-hand woman," Leo observed, nodding sagely.

"Only if you actually get along. My first and second wives and I would have killed each other within the first week." Ursulus leaned back and rubbed his head. "Grae, you think your wife would object to an official title of Cove Administrator?"

Garek laughed. "She won't care either way, but I'd appreciate it. She's got her hands full with that and setting up her staffing agency in Kuo."

Ursulus gave him a careful look. "Been meaning to talk to you about that. The sturdier immigrants are signing up for the Civil Corp, but not everyone can shift a shovel or a pick all day."

Garek nodded. "Selene's been talking to me about a few ideas, and I'd like to run them past you."

Kuo Kuana

One week prior:

Bella Skye, once a contract-laborer at Gehen Mining Camp #5 and now a human living in Menagerie, walked through the modest business front door, and into what appeared to be an extremely sparsely furnished office suite.

And by sparse, it consisted of a folding table, a few folding chairs, a computer, and a printer. All it was missing was a cute cat poster that said 'Hang in There!'.

One folding chair was occupied by a young woman with auburn hair, uncannily blue eyes and an air of patience about her.

"Um.. Ms. Grae-Lumerent?"

"Mrs. And please, call me Selene." She gestured to one of the empty chairs.

"Alright. I'm Bella, but my friends call me Bel."

"It's a pleasure. Thank you for coming to my office, such as it is. I signed the contract this morning, and have not had time to obtain proper furnishings." She smiled. "I hope that it does not give you a poor impression of me."

"Well I… was a little surprised, but that does explain things."

"Very well. I have reviewed your resume. You worked as a manager for a small Dust processor on the outskirts of Mantle at one point?"

"Yes. About a dozen employees. I handled paperwork, invoices, hiring and general HR tasks. It was a small office, so I had to wear a lot of hats.

"That is fortunate,"

"Is it?"

"For my purposes, it is. I am attempting to open an office here," she gestured around her, "and I need someone to operate it for me."

"Broken Moon Staffing."

"Correct."

She paused. "You… don't want to know how I ended up in a mining camp?"

"I assume desperation."

She gave an ugly laugh. "We were bought out. Well, that's not quite correct. My bosses, a couple, found their loans bought and called in, and then the SDC stepped in and offered them a very good deal if they'd sell." She grimaced. "They were good folks, they tried to protect our jobs, but six months after buying us out, they announced they were shutting down due to poor profitability. We ended up on the street."

The woman nodded in understanding, though her expression was sour. "This is not the first time I have heard a story similar to this, regarding the SDC."

"The economy wasn't doing well, and we got desperate, and a recruiter suggested we look at contract work. Turned out he was a liar, he got us to sign paperwork, and we relocated with our daughter to western Solitas, and found ourselves being used as slave labor.

"And now you are here."

"Yeah. It's… kinda hard to absorb, you know? I never imagined that we'd end up in Menagerie of all places."

"I can empathize, most definitely. My husband and I relocated here from Argus with our adopted daughter, specifically because external events seemed to demand it. But I do not regret it."

Bella nodded thoughtfully. "So… you want me to work for your staffing agency."

"Yes, though it may turn into something larger than that. With the explosive growth that Menagerie is experiencing, it will be critical to match the correct person with the job that best suits their skills and temperament. It is my hope that we can fill that role, at least on a temporary basis. As a sort of testing ground."

Bella Skye hesitated. "And you're aware… that I'm not a faunus ?"

Ms. Grae-Lumerent's lips crooked up at one corner. "What we do or do not appear to be has, in my estimation, little bearing on our capabilities nor our temperaments. I fail to see the significance."

She blinked. This woman certainly had a way of talking. It reminded her of some of the Atlesian upper crust, but without the snobbish attitude. "I... alright then. What would you like me to do? Do you need a secretary?"

"Oh, I am afraid I may not have expressed myself clearly, Mrs. Skye. I was hoping you would manage the office on my behalf."

. . .

"Daddy!" Sunny Skye cried a week later, when her father exited the patrol vessel's gangplank. She jumped, wrapping herself around him and burying her face in the crook between his neck and shoulder. A bit further on, his wife, his amazing beautiful wife , waited, smiling.

"How's my little girl?" he said to his daughter's hair, even as he met his wife's gaze happily.

"Great!" Sunny said, pulling back.

"She's been bouncing off the walls," Bella laughed, easing up to meet him with a hug. His two-week shift was over, and he had a full week home with his family now.

Home. Menagerie.

Wasn't that a thing.

He managed to untangle his tween-aged daughter, and the trio began walking hand-in-hand up the slope, taking in the fact that Kuo had developed further even in the short time he'd been away. More buildings. Added stories. More people.

As they walked the crowded streets to their apartment, he kept glancing at Bella. She'd put on healthy body weight while he'd been gone, and her skin had tanned a bit in the tropical sun. His daughter likewise. He could swear that Sunny had grown another three inches since he'd last seen her.

"How was it?" Bella's eyes appraised him as well as they walked, watching how he moved. She was looking for injuries. And he was stiff and sore from two weeks of steady labor followed by the cramped boat right back. But it wasn't like they hadn't talked . The workers had a shared scroll at Port Atlantia, and a few of them had been able to buy their own already. He'd left the family scroll with Bella so they could stay in contact.

He'd affirmed to her, daily , that they weren't being mistreated at the worksite. But years of paying for prior misplaced trust had caused her to question anything she couldn't touch.

"I'm fine, hon," he reassured her. " Seriously . The work wasn't half as bad as back in Solitas. Worst part is the heat, but they make us take water breaks." He squeezed her and lowered his voice. "It's nothing like Gehen. I promise."

Her eyes went distant and haunted for a moment with past pain, then cleared. "Okay. It's just… gods I missed you."

"Missed you more," he grinned.

"I missed you, too, daddy!" their daughter said with a slight pout.

"Missed you too, Sunflower," he said with a laugh. "How are your classes going?"

"Great! I start regular elementary school next week!" She said with a wide smile.

The two adults shared a look. "You'll make sure to tell us if anyone bullies you," Eric said more quietly, glancing around at the masses of faunus around them.

Their daughter, all eleven years of her, gave them a look like they'd said something supremely stupid. "You mean like... cause I don't have a tail or ears or horns?"

Her parents blinked.

Huh.

"It's fine, daddy. I've got two other kids from the camp with me, and they said they'd..." Her eyes went wide, and she backtracked. "Uh… well they said they'd watch out for me."

"Oh. they did , huh?"

Her face turned a little red. "Well… something like that. Snow said he'd kick anybody's butt that tried to tease me about not being faunus."

Well… looks like… things are okay.

They walked a few more blocks in silence as they made their way over the first hill, and down the other side of the slope, watching the hustle and bustle of the currents of faunus and, maybe, the odd human or faunus without obvious traits. Families headed to or from shopping. Visitors heading back to the port. Workers heading home from jobs in the afternoon dusk. A gaggle of kids getting a start on the weekend.

He realized with a strange feeling that with the stipend Adam had set up for him, and the first paycheck, they didn't have to stay here. They could get fare on the passenger ferry as far as Vale. He could access the funds via Scroll, or visit the local Menagerie Credit Union to withdraw lien.

He'd marveled at the net pay for his two weeks of work. His prior experience with "Solitas Independent Dust Extractors", after they had deducted taxes, disability fund, room and board, and a dozen other non-negotiable fees had been… heartbreaking and soul-crushing.

They could go anywhere. They'd struggle, but they could make it.

Or they could stay here.

He turned back to his wife as they walked. "How about you, Bel? How's your work going?"

"Rusty, but getting back into it. It's been too long since I sat at a desk. But the boss-lady says I'm coming along."

"What's she like?"

"Weird but nice. She talks like an Atlas elite who watched too many movies about the King of Vale, but she's patient with me, and nice. She says she's hoping to turn me into an office manager for her here in Kuo."

His eyebrows raised. " Office manager ? Wow… that's fantastic, Bel."

She nodded.

Yeah. They could definitely stay here.

Breakwater Conference Room

"Alright, how are things on the business side?" Ursulus continued smoothly.

Business Councilwoman Keleme Moaga nodded. "I'm managing the… frustrations regarding Dust availability among the business community. Prices are high right now, and that's caused increased smuggling, which on your advice we are ignoring."

"Make sure you track who those smugglers are, we might need them later. How are our stockpiles?"

"Understood, and we've got a tidy supply accumulating. I'm spreading the storage sites out, as far from residential areas and in as small of batches as practical, for safety reasons. That makes it harder to guard them." She shrugged. "It's a trade-off."

Roberts piped up. "We should talk about building more secure storage, with better safety features, for when someone decides we shouldn't have that kind of Dust supply."

"Agreed. And as far as the rest of the economy, while the supplier you've found for commercial communications components has been coming through nicely, consumer electronics prices are tracking upward. I'd like authorization to reach out to some contacts in Vale to see if we can obtain some alternative business contacts there for the secondhand scroll market." Ursulus' brow furrowed. He knew what kind of businesses she was talking about, the kind that didn't file taxes.

Ah well, it was what it was. This was about survival and what was right, not what Atlas had decided was legal. He scanned the room. "Any objections?" and received none. Good. Good.

"And prices in general? You were worried about inflationary pressures last meeting."

"They're manageable, right now. We've got a lot of lien floating around, and prices have gone up for almost everything, but at the same time, we've got more labor available," Moaga shrugged. "Too many moving parts to tell the longer-term trend. The improved security in the Shallow Sea is helping with fishing hauls. If we could open up Vaimani Valley for agriculture and hunting, it would take some of the short-term price pressure off food and meat."

Ursulus gave Nagata a glance, who sighed. "I'll look at it. Maybe we can prioritize that for more training missions, but it'll mean less attention for our coastal ones. Is that going to be okay with your folks, Clarity?"

Aquatics Councilman Clarity nodded. "We've got our hands full with Port Atlantia and coastal patrols to keep the lanes open, we can wait on further coastal expansion."

"Any other business?" Ursulus asked, and met silence. "Huh. Sounds like we have a plan, then," He grunted, and began working his way out of the seat with Isoro's assistance. "Thank you all and see you next week, if I haven't dropped dead before then."

[A/N] Special thanks to regular reviewers AtomicR4y, GreenEyesOrigamiDragon, Rookie80, and Shadowstorm-Vash!

So a bit of a transition chapter, showing how folks are dealing with Menagerie's growing pains and/or settling in, from the Skye Family, to little Blake, Yang, and Ruby. Also showing the "civilian" perspective of working in a Grimm-infested environment and watching Huntsmen in action, and some illustration of the kind of trade-offs Menagerie is having to make with their limited staff of Huntsmen and surge in students / immigrants.

Some positive impacts of Menagerie expanding their naval reach, at the expense of the Black Bones. You don't want to know what Mau had to promise the Dolphin Pods to have salvage hooks attached to some of the Black Bones ships to retrieve them from the sea floor.

Also showing Selene getting a more formal role, and setting up her staffing agency. And some foreshadowing on economics and Ursulus health. I'm not going to suddenly kill him off any time soon, but it's obvious his health is declining.

Regarding some of your comments on the previous chapter:

Atomic: Yep, Willow kinda forced the issue there, though not in a "I'm the boss and you'll do what I say" way but more a "come hither" way. And yes, Garek and Reggie are going to have a 'moment' over it.

GreenEyes: Oh when the Schneeblings are united, it's gonna be EPIC. I have the outline of what happens drafted, but it'll be a bit before we get there with everything else that's going on.

Rookie: I am SO GLAD you enjoyed the previous chapter. Willow is definitely going to be a force to reckon with, though she's still got a lot of issues to work out. And when she pulls the rug out from under Jacques... it's going to be something to see.

Shadowstorm: I highly doubt Willow is pregnant, and Selene is waiting until after things with Watts have settled, at the least. Jacques is going to have a bad bad time all around, and deserves every bit of it. Reggie's reaction is exactly as you suspect.