"You honestly couldn't have taken anybody else?"
"You know how they get around me. I want someone who'll work with me; not ones quaking with worry over every little twist and turn I make."
The ferocious Sienna Khan grumbled like a toddler, and maybe it could be seen as demeaning of her, but she couldn't help but view the woman no differently now then she had as a little girl. Sienna must have caught on, because seconds later she rolled her eyes.
"I'm a busy woman; you know that."
"Clearly not enough to turn me down."
"Like I'd turn you down."
"I'm sure the boys can handle themselves for a few hours." Sienna really needed to lighten up; running the Fang was hard and difficult, and yet they still found the time to rest and relax.
"More like a few minutes..."
Kali didn't show it, but she had half a mind to take the woman by the face and give her a good shake. Selling herself short as always. Once upon a time, Kali wondered why those with steel-forged determination constantly battered themselves around. The day Ghira and her gave up the White Fang, stepping down from leadership to pass the wheel on Sienna, she understood.
That doubt, as hurtful as it could often be, shielded their wills; ready to guide and prepare them for hardship. Unfortunately, akin to a child being granted their first taste of responsibility, it tended to go overboard.
"Now now, don't say that." Kali lifted her head from the current patch of berry bushes and winked. "You taught them everything they know, didn't you?"
"If they would focus more on applying it to their duties, I wouldn't be half so swamped these days."
"You know, back when Ghira used to get overwhelmed, I would often take a good portion of the work on myself."
Sienna slapped her with a half-smirk; the first sign of any humor so far since they left town.
"Yeah? Well, this may come as a shock, but I don't have a lover to toss my excess paperwork on."
"Have you ever considered a secretary?" In the midst of this, Kali pressed on through a thicker section of the woods. Most of the trees and foliage this deep inside bunched up, but remained relatively open - enough to see any oncoming or stalking grimm, at least.
"With the complaints and updates usually thrown my way? Ha! A secretary wouldn't even leave their week's notice before hitting the hills."
If it was anything like back in the day, Kali could empathise. On that note, she knew one thing for certain.
"Perhaps they would. But that amount of confidence shows the high level of trust they have in you." A little chortle broke past her lips, but being so far out here, Kali didn't care if she sounded a little unladylike. "They'd clean up their reports a lot better otherwise."
"Yeah..." That low droning tone perked up Kali's senses, but before she could shoot a glance back, Sienna swiftly switched it up with her - shockingly regular as of late - annoyed gruff. "They can still learn how to organize their shit!"
This coming from the woman notorious for leaving her unmentionables in a pile at the foot of her bed.
"You know... When Blake was little, what we did to make sure she remembered to clean up her messes was reward her whenever she did."
Sienna shot a blank look her way.
"These are full grown adults. If I have to baby them, then they shouldn't even be in the White Fang."
"Oh posh~" Kali had no trouble laughing openly. "Surely the "Great Khan" remembers her legendary adventures beside her two best friends."
A soft pink tint began to arise over Sienna's nose.
"Cheap shot. I was six." A swell of relief pulsated in her chest as she caught sight of the little grin Sienna did her best to hide. As quick as it came, it left, alongside the blush. "Things aren't like how they used to be; it's too dangerous to accept anyone unwilling or unable to fight. All our recruits need at least some level of combat training. Everyone is... armed."
Once again, she took the aspiring leader into her grasp; hands clasped together between them both. Sienna met her gaze, but those subtle twitches along her cheek, and the unsteady, faintly unsure orbs betrayed a sickness of sorts. A sickness Kali had long labeled remorse.
"You can't help how the world spins, dear." No one could - a fact which helped aid in their own decision to step down initially. "I'm not upset with how you've chosen to handle the White Fang's next step."
"You flinch every time you see one of ours with a gun."
"I do, and I know I do." A solemn, but hopefully understandable smile snuck out, but Kali would not lie or push it back. "It does scare me, yes, but I'm not scared of us carrying arms; I'm afraid of why we must." That necessity almost always beckoned tragedy in some form or another. "Ghira and I… We've seen what happens when weapons are waved; how easily fear corrupts into hate."
"I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to feel sorry for." And because of that, Kali could put on a genuine smile; hopefully both bright and wide with the pride she felt towards their once young protégé's growth. "You train them to defend themselves, to protect them from others who cannot control their anger and hatred. You're always complaining about how they act or do things, how annoying they are, and yet you never run them into battle; all that rigorous practice, sweat, and tears are kept exclusively so they can be ready to defend themselves."
"Kali-"
"Hush now." Sienna flinched under her embrace, so sudden and sharp that Kali squeezed tighter. Sienna… Always being so hard on herself. What a silly little girl. "You can't help how others act, but you can choose how to react yourself."
A few minutes went by with Sienna stuck in her grip, but once it loosened, Kali decided she'd let loose a little secret.
"Did I ever tell you why Ghira and I specifically chose you to be the leader in our stead?"
"No."
A gentle pull back had their eyes locked again; Sienna's still ones, slightly contracted, peering directly into her own.
"Originally, we considered letting Adam take the lead. He raised a good point in that we shouldn't stand still and let them hurt us if they please. However, every word he said, every action he took carried rigorous commitment. We could see that, while he spoke the truth, he wouldn't merely settle for defense. Adam is a boy with a lot of anger: a lot of spite towards those who've wronged him. We feared that, if we handed him the reins, he'd turn our protests into assaults. We worried he'd take our White Fang, and morph them into his own personal army."
"His... army?" Sienna's lower lip spazzed a tiny bit; the stress of realization clearly having claimed a part of her.
"Yes. Adam... Bless his heart, but he would want revenge most of all. He'd want to take out his anger on the world. He'd lead battalions of men and women to their doom, making a true enemy of humanity as a whole. Adam has a lot to say on the matter, always did, but... We can't win another war, Sienna. We were lucky to get out of the first one."
She could see Sienna's jaw tighten; small, subtle, but bright as the sun for her own trained eye.
"There won't be another war."
"I know." Some might call her smile deceiving, but Kali meant every word she said. "Fennec drops by from time to time, giving us updates about the wider world and how well you're doing."
"He does?"
"Surprised?" Kali had to withhold a snort; laughing at Sienna's stretched and annoyed frown wouldn't be nice. "Yes. He's told us how the people of the kingdoms still look at our arms with fear, but that we've gained a greater respect for not using them. You've always been just about as fierce as Adam himself when it comes to your determination, but... and keep this between the two of us: you've always had the more level head. We knew putting you in charge would ensure we didn't devolve into thugs, and we're both so proud of you for it."
Sienna seemed stuck between a mix of squeamish embarrassment, which Kali waved away with a grab of her hand and a strong tug. She'd said her piece, and the day wasn't getting any longer.
"Come on. I'm sure there's a larger patch deeper in. I think we should be able to get a good many bottles of jam-"
Weightlessness threw her out into the air ahead, dropping fast as her feet left the ground. Kali knew these woods as well as her own home, having explored them with her husband and daughter for many years. Unless a root had suddenly grown right in this very spot, she had no idea how she tripped. It had to be a root; it felt far too big to be anything else.
Strangely though, it sat against her ankle softly, far too soft for bark of any kind.
Kali rounded through these thoughts while flipping over, until she sat on her hiney to see what exactly she'd stumbled over. A shock followed by trepidation zipped up her back, and briefly she sat unable to move. At her ankle lay a lump of fat, a thigh to be more specific: a fleshy, shadow-webbed thigh, with those very webs fading down into a ruby tint as the surrounding skin lost its color.
"Kali!" Sienna rushed over. "Are you..." She paused on the sight of a very strange, and very naked young woman. "Brothers..."
"I'm fine, dear." Up on her knees, she reached out for the motionless girl; hoping to hope that this wasn't what it appeared to be. Warmth radiated from the surface, and Kali sighed. "She's alive."
"Good." Sienna's own relief stumbled out alongside the furrow of her brow. "But, what is she doing out here?"
"I don't know." She had some suspicions though, terrible suspicions. Carefully, she rolled the girl over and examined the body as best she could without any equipment, choosing to update Sienna along the way. "There are no bruises or cuts. No open signs of injury."
Carefully, she leaned in to listen, relaxed her shoulders, and pulled back.
"What is it?" Sienna leaned in.
"She's breathing regularly." Kali ran her hands through the woman's hair. "I don't see anything detrimental around the scalp. No apparent bruising around the neck." Bringing her hands down, she parted the girl's legs just a tiny bit, feeling around cautiously, but unearthing nothing of consequence. "No scabs or scarring. Everything so far is where it should be."
That ruled out just about every type of assault that immediately came to mind, leaving Kali to wonder if the woman just had a habit of sleeping out here in the nude; an incredibly ridiculous idea, but a possibility regardless. Unless, of course, the girl simply got drugged, robbed, and tossed out here. But then again, even drug use had its tells, and Kali saw none of them.
"Hey... Did you get a look at this?" Sienna lifted up a hand, and Kali grimaced. Many faunus had uniquely potent visual traits, with Trifa being a particularly striking example, but their mystery woman right now took the cake.
"I did."
"Don't they look a little..."
"Grimm-like, I know." Pure white nails, cut off from the skin by an accent sharing the same red as the vines running up the black skin. "Poor girl."
"Do you think this has something to do with why she's out here?"
Kali hated the suggestion, but couldn't disagree completely. For all their talk of tolerance, she knew just as well that faunus themselves discriminated about as equally as humans did. She could easily see some of the more rowdy folks calling their unconscious find "cursed" with minimal exaggeration.
"Maybe." Gently, she slipped her arms under the woman. "Come on; I'll have one of the servants prepare a space for her. We can ask her questions when she wakes up."
If she woke up, that was. Kali didn't like that thought, but it couldn't be helped. In an instant, the weight in her arms vanished, and she glanced up to see Sienna holding the woman.
"I've got her."
She'd been ready to thank Sienna, until an idea came to mind.
"Hold on one minute."
Kali rushed to grab their baskets, swiping the tablecloths from each. Some of the berries may slip through, but that was fine in her eyes as this took priority. A little shake had any excess berries flung off onto the grass and shrubbery, and she laid both across the exposed girl, tucked underneath a little so they couldn't blow or fall off easily. One over the chest, and one over the waist.
"There we go," Kali said as she stepped back.
"That'll do, I guess."
Well, beggars couldn't be choosers. And besides, she doubted the woman would be all that happy to learn they'd paraded her through town with her sensitive bits up in the air. At least this way, they could save her dignity, and that was enough for Kali.
"Okay. Straight trip back home; I'll have Ghira call up our physician."
One nod from Sienna and they were trudging back to town with two leaking baskets of berries, and a third member of their trip.
Author's note
...
Well, we found Neo. Not exactly the most optimal area to pop up, but she was promised a safe place, and you can't get much safer for someone visibly non-human. Aim seems a little off though - what would have happened if the grimm found her instead?
Forewarning going forward: my personal schedule is facing some changes, so this will likely be the standard chapter size going forward for now. We'll probably get back to the regular sized ones eventually, but it's either this, or biweekly updates as opposed to weekly.
Reviews this time are straightforward. I'm aware of the confusing wording: that was intentional. I wanted readers to somewhat empathise with Neo's confusion: sharing it with her. Since the readers know of the relationship between both the Brothers and Salem, that confusion had to come from Neo's unique perspective as she goes through the experience, as well as character decisions - mainly Salem. Whether anyone liked it or not is a matter of personal opinion, as most things will be in these stories anyway.
Things will make sense in time - to questionable results. While most can't simply turn the page, I like to have enough faith in readers to uphold a level of cautious patience.
Until next time.